Nissan puts out the most: carbons, that is
From 1990 to 2005, Nissan's carbon emission levels have grown more than any of the other top six automakers selling cars in the US -- and not by a little. The company's 2005 fleet is responsible for 9.2% more carbon output over its lifetime than the 1990 fleet, according to a study by Environmental Defense. The next highest gain was Daimler Chrysler at 4.8%, then Honda at 4.4%. GM -- often the whipping boy in studies like this -- had the smallest rise with 3%, and Toyota's comparative carbon output actually dropped 3%.
Not knowing the study's methodology, a host of factors could skew the outcome. Nissan replied to the study by saying "Since the end of this report in 2005, we have added the subcompact Nissan Versa, Altima Hybrid and flex-fuel-capable trucks." It's interesting to note, though, that Nissan has stood apart from the group of automakers fighting the CAFE battle in Congress, which is all about carbon emissions. It has also stayed out of the environmental debate spotlight, except to say that it is committed to being good to the earth. With Congress soon returning to the CAFE debate, Nissan might want to speak a little louder.
Thanks for the tip, Emanuel!
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Adam 2:40PM (9/04/2007)
Ye Ha for my 98 Maxima!
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Dave 3:00PM (9/04/2007)
This seems to be obvious. In 1990, Nissan didn't make such large vehicles as the Armada and Titan.
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h8rain 3:26PM (9/04/2007)
That is EXACTLY what I was thinking.......
BTW if Toyota did not have the hybrids, I would bet money they would have gone up (people don't realize that Toyota is the HALO green car company, because they make gas guzzlers just like EVERYONE else).
Which bring up the next point of why Honda went up so much (only 0.1% more than Ford and 1.4% more than GM, and they are the big bad gas hogs.....), because they have hybrids, and don't build anything huge (the Ridgeline, but it's not that big).....hmmmmm carbon for thought.
Another rant is I HATE percentages in "studies". Give me real numbers, because those percentages might translate to very small numbers that are "percentage-inflated" to make it seem like a bigger problem than it truely is. Simple example: the emissions went up from 200 to 218.4 for Nissan. A difference of less than 20 carbon in 15 years. To say it only went up about 20 carbon is not so bad, however if you say it went up ALMOST 10% sound shocking, when the truth is it is not that much.
Which is more 10% of a Mercedes SL500 or a $10,000 Hyundai Accent? :) You can almost make "statistics" swing whichever way you want. So give real number, and not fuzzy math......
h8rain 3:27PM (9/04/2007)
* Toyota is NOT the HALO green car company.....bad typo
m 3:55PM (9/04/2007)
Why did Honda go up? Back in 1990 they still built reasonably sized cars. Have you seen the behemoth they're calling an Accord these days? I'd bet a new Civic is as big as an old Accord. They started building big, heavy cars to fit their big, heavy American passengers, and big surprise: they burn more fuel now.
Carlos 3:36PM (9/04/2007)
Well that's a misleading headline.
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Ligor 3:53PM (9/04/2007)
yeap,
i agree
in 1990 they basically had some very small cars and very little in anything you'd want to own except the Z
now they went full size, i'm betting their emmisions is the same as the rest of the companies
comparing the %increase over 10 years is misleading
how about Nissan only sells 1mill vs. 4mill for Toyota,
I could report that Toyota produces 4 time the CO2 Nissan does and this would ay that Toyota is a pig compared to NIssan,
I guess, why does Autoblog report this crap-type data without giving the rest of the info?
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why not the LS2/LS7? 4:44PM (9/04/2007)
I ride Toyota quite a bit about this. And Nissan is definitely guilty too.
But when BMW and M-B have doubled the size of the engines in their cars over the last 15 years, and Audi has almost doubled them, there's a much bigger story to be told.
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Guenther 8:53PM (9/04/2007)
Ride Toyota for what? Comparative carbon output is lower- at least under these statistical parameters. I thought that was a positive thing....?
why not the LS2/LS7? 3:15AM (9/05/2007)
That was 2005.
Toyota has released far more trucks and SUVs than cars in the last few years. Look at Lexus, their lineup is half SUVs now.
digitalzombie 4:58PM (9/04/2007)
>,> the summary is misleading.
I mean Nissan is a growing corp they're expanding pretty fast where as the Big 3 have been downsizing and closing down plant.
Instead of growth we should instead see how much carbon each auto company output per year or so.
As for Nissan staying out of the spot light of environment it's their choice don't try to coax em into it. >,> It's better to be neutral and do actions silently then do nothing and bitch about it.
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KazO 6:08PM (9/04/2007)
In '90, Nissan/Infiniti had only 4 models with 6pots standard, one optional: Maxima, 300ZX, Pathfinder, M30, and Pickup. Now they have 4 models with 4pots standard, and two with optional V6: Versa, Sentra, Altima, Frontier. Heck, for '05 that's 3 since the Versa didn't exist.
Duh, I say.
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RedBeauty84ZX 7:30PM (9/04/2007)
Who cares? lol. What is the actual carbon out put compared to other automakers? For all we know Nissan puts out the LOWEST carbon output...it just says they have increased by measly 9.2% when most every other auto manufacture has also had an increase in carbon pollution. It only makes since...in 1990 Nissan had 3 main engines:
2.4L 4 cylinder
3.0L-3.3L 6 cylinder
4.5L 8 cylinder
Now they have a :
2.5L 4 cylinder
3.5L-4.0L 6 cylinder
5.6L 8 cylinder
bigger engines = more emmisions output. At least Nissan is making exciting cars a la the Z & GTR while Toyota continues to make a name for it self as being the most boring auto manufacturer in the world.
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h8rain 11:10AM (9/05/2007)
See that is my point exactly, % generally are used to make a point, even if that point is 'inaccurate' representation of the actual numbers.
huis 12:33PM (9/05/2007)
Don't forget the smaller 4-cylinders too. I believe the Sentra had a 1.6 liter in 1990, and the Versa has a 1.8 liter now.