Fiat achieved the lowest CO2 emissions of new cars sold in Europe last year according to the European Federation for Transport & Environment, and is now down to 138 g/km from 142 g/km the previous year, an improvement of 2.9 percent.

It means that, according to the Brussels-based environmental pressure group, Fiat has taken away PSA Peugeot-Citroën's top spot with respect to the average CO2 emissions from new cars and both are now below 140 g/km, the only manufacturers selling cars in Europe to breach this threshold, Renault meanwhile is in third place with average of 143 g/km ahead of Toyota fourth (147 g/km), Hyundai fifth (149 g/km) and Ford sixth (152 g/km).

However year-on-year improvements painted a very different picture as carmakers reduced carbon emissions by wildly varying degrees last year with the best performers achieving four to five times larger cuts than the worst. Progress slowed dramatically at Fiat and PSA, who were tenth and fourteenth respectively on the list of fourteen, but who both already have Europe’s cleanest fleets on average and so are close to meeting their EU targets.

The Transport & Environment (T&E) report shows BMW and Mazda led the field with 10 percent and 8.2 perecent reductions to the average CO2 emissions for cars sold in Europe in 2008. But nine of the fourteen volume producers in the ranking achieved just 4% or lower. A new European law setting binding targets for average CO2 emissions was agreed at the end of last year. According to the report, the striking differences in performance by different carmakers reflect the amount of work each has to do to reach their new EU targets. Suzuki and Mazda, who have been slow to improve efficiency in the past, and consequently have a long way to go to meet EU targets, however made big steps forward in 2008.

BMW is, for the second year running, the carmaker that made the greatest year-on-year CO2 and fuel efficiency improvement. Given the fact that the weight of its vehicles has remained virtually the same, this improvement is not due to a shift towards smaller cars (such as the Mini) but is most likely due to its ‘Efficient Dynamics’ programme, a range of fuel-saving measures that has been introduced across the full range. Progress since 2006 stands at 16 percent.

Jos Dings, director of Transport & Environment said: “The new EU law is already having an impact. If the overall drop in average CO2 emissions was purely related to the financial crisis, fuel prices or changing consumer behaviour, we would have expected to see every company reducing much more equally. But what is actually happening is that carmakers are seeing how far they have to cut and changing their fleets accordingly.” The positive impact of the cars legislation adds to the evidence that legally-binding targets should be extended to vans and lorries. Dings added: "Clearly regulation is working, and if it works for cars, it will work for vans where progress so far has been even worse. Fuel efficient vans will be good for the environment, and save billions on fuel costs for the many businesses, small and large that depend on them." According to media reports, the EU is set to announce legally-binding targets for vans in the coming weeks.