Volkswagen wants to meet EU CO2 limit 

The Volkswagen Group is planning to be able to meet European emissions standards this year without relying on sales of electric cars from other manufacturers, according to a media report. It would be the first time the world's largest carmaker has been able to meet CO2 fleet limits in Europe using only its vehicles.

Since 2020, carmakers in the EU have been obliged to reduce their average fleet emissions to 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre driven. If they fail to do so, they must pay heavy fines. But there is a loophole: Those who are in danger of missing the target can join forces with other manufacturers who are far below the limit to achieve artificially lower average values - so-called CO2 pooling. In 2021, the Chinese manufacturers Geely, NIO and SAIC (with the e-car brand MG) were part of VW's CO2 pool.

This year, the VW Group plans to do without the help of the Chinese companies and rely on its brands, including Audi, Porsche, Škoda and Seat. This is according to the Financial Times from public documents filed with the European Commission. The manufacturer has already confirmed this: "We have switched to a closed pool and are confident of meeting the EU emissions targets ourselves," the business magazine quotes a VW spokesman as saying.

In recent years, Fiat Chrysler (FCA), for example, teamed up with e-car maker Tesla to meet CO2 limits. For the deal, FCA paid a good 1.8 billion euros to Tesla in 2020, which was considerably less than the impending CO2 fines. After FCA was absorbed into the Stellantis Group, the Italian-American alliance withdrew from the agreement. For 2022, Honda and Tesla entered into a pooling deal.

The penalty for missing the target is 95 euros for each gram per kilometre above the limit, multiplied by the number of new vehicles registered in the year. Volkswagen had to pay more than 100 million euros in fines last year after the group narrowly missed the targets despite the pool agreement and the launch of its first mass-market e-car, the ID.3. Mercedes-Benz and BMW met the targets last year, mainly thanks to a strong increase in demand for plug-in hybrids, which count towards the targets.