NEWS | Wednesday, 09 July 2008

FIAT record lowest average CO2 emissions value

FIAT Automobiles recorded the lowest average CO2 emissions value for vehicles sold in 2007. An analysis by JATO Dynamics has placed the Fiat brand (137.3 g/km) ahead of Peugeot (141.9 g/km), Citroën (142.2 g/km), Renault (146.4 g/km), Toyota (148.8 g/km), Ford (149.1 g/km), Opel/Vauxhall (152.9 g/km), Volkswagen (161.7 g/km), BMW (176.7g/km) and Mercedes-Benz (188.4 g/km). These results place the FIAT brand as the best among the 10 best-selling automotive manufacturers in Europe.
“The results of this important analysis reward FIAT’s ongoing commitment to finding innovative solutions to reduce levels of polluting emissions and CO2,” explains Lorenzo Sistino, managing director of FIAT Automobiles. “FIAT’s aim is always to stay as close as possible to people’s real needs, and its commitment does not end here.”
As it continues its quest for alternative fuels, Fiat is also downsizing its diesel and petrol engine vehicles, as demonstrated by the new 1.4 T-Jet and 1.6 MultiJet families. In particular, the adoption of new-generation turbochargers, combined with smaller capacity engines, allows Fiat to achieve performance levels that are comparable to or even better than higher capacity power units, but with lower fuel consumption and emissions.
In the meantime, U.C.I.M. Co. has announced that the first model of the FIAT Bravo 1.6 MultiJet, that was delivered to Malta earlier this week. The FIAT Bravo 1.6 MultiJet and the FIAT 500 are the only Euro5 compliant cars. The Euro 5 is the next generation of caps on pollutant emissions from diesel and petrol cars, limiting in particular nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) which pose the most serious health and environmental problems.
Fuel exhausts have an impact on air quality and human health, especially in urban areas where traffic is dense. To reduce this impact, the EU has adopted legislation to impose stricter emissions caps on both diesel and petrol cars, limiting in particular nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) which pose the most serious health problems.
Francesca Mamo, U.C.I.M. Co. Managing Director said that it is honourable to be the first company in Malta to be able to put on the market cars which are already conforming to the next generation of standards (known as Euro 5) which will enter into force in 2009.