See all Motoring NewsA new report from Cartell.ie has found there has been an upturn in the average CO2 emissions of new vehicles sold in Ireland for the first two months of 2019. In 2018, yearly average emissions increased for the first time in fourteen years to 113g CO2 /km. The report finds that the upward trend has continued during the first two months of 2019, as the average emission recording of new vehicles sold for the period has increased to 115g CO2 /km.
Cartell.ie claims the increase may be due to a buying trend towards larger more practical vehicles such as SUVs. In 2018, Cartell examined CO2 emissions ratings in the private transport sector, as it had been then reported that Ireland faced a significant fine in 2020 due to increasing greenhouse gas emissions, partly attributed to the transport sector.
Average CO2 of new private vehicles bought in Ireland 2003-2019 (Source: Cartell Carstat)
Commenting on the findings, Cartell.ie’s John Byrne said “We are looking exclusively at new cars sold in Ireland so any arguments with respect to imported vehicles can be entirely discounted. We considered whether the average emissions are possibly increasing in line with a buying trend towards purchase of more expensive vehicles, meaning these results are correlative with the general increase in the value of new vehicles sold. However, this wouldn’t really explain the increase in emissions per se as manufacturers have invested considerable amounts of money to reduce emissions in their fleet in-line with overarching concerns for the environment globally.”