While most auto manufacturers are making concessions in terms of reduced engine capacities and the adoption of green technology to meet stricter emission standards, Porsche appears to have found a crafty way to circumvent the issue.
We’re all aware of Porsche’s intentions to increase its share in Volkswagen AG and advantages such as technology and component sharing that the company can reap from such a move, but there also appears to be another fringe benefit arising from the upcoming deal.
Porsche has had a number of legal wrangles with government bodies both in the UK and U.S regarding the increasingly strict fuel and emissions standards being enforced as of late. The most notable being last year’s unsuccessful attempt to gain exemption from the U.S government’s CAFE (Corporate Annual Fuel Economy) standards that resulted in the Stuttgart company paying a hefty $4,6 million (roughly R37 million) in fuel economy fines. The company’s UK arm has also been engaged in a bitter dispute with London Mayor Ken Livingston over a sizeable increase in the city’s congestion charge, which Porsche feels discriminates against its customers and is of little benefit to the environment.
According to , Porsche could merge its vehicles’ fuel economy ratings with Volkswagen’s in the coming years to offset the low fuel economy of its vehicles against those of Volkswagen’s fleet and meet CAFÉ standards. Such a practice is not unheard of in the industry as Ford currently averages its vehicles with Mazda— despite a minority ownership — and the former DaimlerChrysler corporation did the same during its ownership of Mitsubishi.
Volkswagen’s 2007 car fleet average fuel economy was 28,6 mpg (just over 8 l/100 km) and sat just above the current 27.5 mpg (just over 8 l/100 km) CAFE standard. Porsche’s inclusion to Volkswagen’s fleet would lower the company’s fuel economy figures, but with Volkswagen planning several frugal models, such as the Up! range of vehicles, the overall balance could even out.
According to a Porsche spokesman, the offsetting of economy standards is not the crux of the company’s increased interest in Volkswagen, but it look as if Volkswagen’s high fuel economy average should allow Porsche to continue building high-performance machines relatively unhindered by fuel economy restrictions. The pressure will mount, however, as the CAFE standards are set to enforce a 35 mpg (around 6,5 l/100 km) fleet average by 2020. Porsche will then have to help itself in the coming years with more fuel efficient models such as a diesel-powered Cayenne and hybrid technologies.
So, that’s Porsche’s fuel economy issue Stateside addressed for now, but the carbon dioxide laws will prove trickier to circumvent. Porsche executives in Europe have expressed their concerns that that pending European limits on carbon dioxide emissions will be impossible for Porsche to meet without “abandoning its market identity.”
It goes to show that companies with a heritage based on powerful (and therefore generally polluting) cars could potentially be snuffed out by increasingly strict emissions regulations. It may sound melodramatic, but in Porsche’s case abandoning its strong market identity could deal the brand a severe blow. The green issue continues to become more contentious…
