Automaker pollution rankings
Emissions by automaker

		in this section  Automaker rankings (pdf)  Full text of the report (pdf)

Despite three decades of emissions regulations, cars and light trucks -- a category that includes sport utility vehicles, minivans, and pickups -- still threaten Americans’ health and the environment.

Yet automakers seek to distinguish themselves as environmentally responsible companies through advertising as well as voluntary actions to reduce pollution from their vehicles, increase recycled materials content, and sell advanced-technology vehicles. At the same time, almost all automakers are trying hard to sell greater numbers of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and other light trucks, which pollute far more than passenger cars.

Determining which automakers truly qualify as environmental leaders requires an objective comparison of the pollution performance of their products. This study compares automakers’ new passenger vehicles on the basis of their smog-forming and global warming emissions. We evaluated vehicles sold in 1998 (the most recent year for which complete data are available) using information from the Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board, and the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration.

Our study also indicates the most important steps automakers and policymakers can take to reduce the environmental impacts of new automobiles.

Key Results

This study demonstrates that pollution from automakers’ new vehicles varies significantly (see figure). Causes of these differences are outlined below.

Light Trucks Damage the Big 3’s Rankings

The "Big 3" (DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors) account for 85 percent of light truck sales in the United States, which puts them into our "worst polluters" category. Although recently adopted regulations will require light trucks to meet the same tailpipe standards as cars, nearly a decade will pass before they are completely phased in. In addition, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards allow light trucks to consume one-third more gasoline than cars. Fuel economy is directly related to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary global warming gas, and fuel-inefficient trucks emit more CO2 than cars. Technologies can make light trucks as clean and fuel-efficient as cars today, but unless the Big 3 build them into vehicles soon, they will continue to lag behind the average pollution performance of the industry (see table).

Sales of Fuel-Efficient, Low-Emissions Vehicles Secure Honda’s Ranking

Honda’s vehicles achieve the lowest emissions of both smog-forming and global warming gases. Honda was the first automaker to sell a significant portion of its vehicles as low-emission vehicles (LEVs) -- a standard that is 57 percent more stringent than the current national requirement. Honda also leads the nation in fuel efficiency, with cars averaging the industry best at 31.8 miles per gallon. Finally, Honda benefits from selling a relatively small fraction of light trucks (10 percent of its sales), and those trucks are among the cleanest and most fuel-efficient in the industry.

The Auto Industry Is Backsliding on Global Warming

Historic fuel-economy data reveals a disturbing trend -- every automaker’s average new vehicles emit more global warming gases today than ten years ago, with the exception of BMW.1 In 1999, US fuel economy overall dropped to its lowest value in 20 years. Two decades of fuel-saving technologies that could have helped curb CO2 emissions have instead gone into increasing vehicle weight and performance.

The Big 3 Account for Most Global-Warming Emissions from New Vehicles

The Big 3 sell the dirtiest vehicles and capture the vast majority of US passenger vehicle sales, making them the worst polluters by any measure. Together, Daimler Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors’ vehicles are the source of 76 percent of the CO2 emitted by vehicles sold in 1998. Immediate action by these automakers to raise the fuel economy of their light trucks would significantly reduce global warming emissions from new automobiles.

Key Recommendations

What Automakers Can Do

"Green" competition will never fully replace the need for public policies, but it can help accelerate the introduction of cleaner technologies. Automakers wishing to distinguish themselves as environmental leaders must make their light trucks meet the same emissions and fuel economy standards as cars within the next five years or sooner. If Ford had taken these steps, it would have been the second-cleanest automaker in our rankings.

Environmentally concerned automakers must lower the total pollution from their new vehicles each year. Introducing cleaner gasoline vehicles ahead of mandates will help. Cooperating with policymakers to develop stronger fuel economy standards is essential. Finally, automakers must begin selling advanced technology vehicles, which hold the promise to eliminate automobiles from the pollution picture.

Policymakers Must Act Now

Regulators have taken steps to slowly close tailpipe pollution loopholes for light trucks, but they continue to disregard fuel-saving technologies for trucks by retaining the CAFE loophole. Holding light trucks to the same fuel economy standards as cars is the most effective step we can take to cut global warming emissions. The CAFE loophole alone allowed an extra 237 million tons of CO2 to enter our atmosphere last year.