Ferrari, Alpina lead supercar race to not-quite-as-high CO₂ levels

CO₂ emission numbers for cars from companies like Ferrari and Aston Martin are, to a Prius or clean diesel fan, pretty much a joke. Bentleys, for example, average over 400 grams of CO₂ per kilometer. There are even some luxury vehicles that can put the supercars to shame, like the Mercedes-Benz S 500 Hybrid – with just 74 grams per km – shows. Still, if you start out ridiculously dirty, there's a lot of room to clean up. This cleaning process is what JATO recently measured in a study of supercar company CO₂ emission reductions. The average improvements are pretty big.

Ferrari came out on top by dropping 40.4 g/km, followed by Lamborghini with 39.1 g/km. When ranked by percentage difference, Alpina took top honors with 14.1 percent, with Porsche's 10.6 percent improvement good enough for second place. Maserati decided to ignore the issue and actually increased average emissions by 20.9 g/km. We're clear eyed enough to realize that the small volume and limited miles driven in these supercars means that, overall, their tailpipes don't have much of an impact on the environment, but it's good to see improvements being made anyway. Well, except for those Maserati's. There's a table with all the numbers after the jump.

[Source: JATO Consult]


PRESS RELEASE:

SUPERCARS LEAD IN CO2 REDUCTION RACE

* Lower CO2 not just for small cars
* Leading supercar makers reduce average CO2 in H1 2009, vs. H1 2008
* Ferrari leads race to reduce CO2 volumes, with average 40.4 g/km improvement

While not traditionally associated with their environmental credentials, supercar makers are proving just as committed and effective as volume brands in reducing their average CO2 performance, according to a special report released today by the world's leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, JATO Dynamics.

JATO analysis shows Ferrari leads the CO2 volume reduction race, with a 40.4 g/km improvement in CO2 output of new cars sold in H1 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.

This is the greatest volume reduction of any brand on sale in Europe and represents a 9.5% improvement, which matches that of the best performing volume brand of H1 2009, Chevrolet.

Commenting on the figures, David Di Girolamo, Head of JATO Consult, says: "Of course, supercars are starting from a high base and have more scope to reduce emissions than mainstream cars, but the speed with which they are improving their CO2 performance should be credited.

"Sales volumes might be on a smaller scale, but those manufacturers we studied sell close to 100,000 cars combined each year, and we know well that the days of supercar makers being excluded from the environmental debate are over," he continues "of course owners of these types of cars are also now acutely aware of their own environmental responsibilities, although this is clearly not top of the wish list when considering a supercar".

Selected Supercar Performers in Detail

BRAND	VOL H1_09	AV CO2 H1_08 (g/ km)	AV CO2 H1_09 (g/ km)	CO2 DIFF (g/ km)	CO2 DIFF (%)
ALPINA	256	242.6	208.4	-34.2	14.1
PORSCHE	18,126	290.2	259.5	-30.7	10.6
FERRARI	1,783	427.4	386.9	-40.4	9.5
LAMBORGHINI	337	413.1	374.1	-39.1	9.5
ASTON MARTIN	1,288	383.9	359.7	-24.2	6.3
ROLLS-ROYCE	106	384.0	379.8	-4.3	1.1
BENTLEY	762	408.4	406.2	-2.2	0.5
MASERATI	1,264	343.5	364.4	+20.9	-6.1

JATO's analysis shows the scale of CO2 improvement made by the top supercar makers, but also the effect of small sales volumes.

Ferrari's net reduction puts it well on its way to achieving its stated aim to reduce CO2 emissions from 400 g/km per vehicle to 280-300 g/km, by 2012.

While Ferrari can claim the greatest CO2 volume reduction, when expressed as percentage improvement, it is Alpina that is the outright best performer, although on a small sales base. The next best in percentage improvement is Porsche, whose 10.6% reduction on a H1 2009 sales volume of 18,126 compares well to volume car makers.

The above data is provided by JATO Consult, the company's bespoke consulting service which offers customers access to its unique data and provides solutions and advice to meet a wide range of automotive business challenges.