BMW CEO raps EU calls for stiffer car emissions goals

MUNICH (Reuters) -- BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer criticized calls by European Union lawmakers for tougher fuel efficiency goals. He said their demands would hurt the European industry in competition with the United States and China. EU politicians last month backed a target to cut fleet average CO2 emissions from new cars sold in Europe to a range of 68 to 78 grams per kilometer (g/km) by 2025, down from a fleet average of 130g/km required by 2015. "This is all about political wish-lists and has nothing to do with technical analysis or feasibility," Reithofer said at the group's annual shareholders' meeting today. "At some point, politicians will go a step too far," he said. "Europe is currently not in a strong enough position to isolate itself from global competition in this way." A compromise target of 95 g/km by 2020 already requires "billions of euros" of investment and can't be met without alternative drive technology, Reithofer said. Average CO2 emissions for new cars across Europe were 132.3 g/km in 2012, according to market researcher JATO Dynamics. Automakers selling cars in Europe have individual targets to meet the 130 g/km goal. BMW Group's fleet, which includes BMW-, Mini- and Rolls-Royce-brand models, had an average CO2 emissions of 144.8 g/km in the EU in 2011, according to EU data. The automaker's regulatory target is to reduce that to 138.4 g/km by 2015. To help reduce its CO2 emissions, BMW will launch its i3 electric city car in the fourth quarter after unveiling a production version of the model at the Frankfurt auto show in September. The i3 will be followed by the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car in early 2014 Reithofer today said BMW expects to reap a "positive" contribution to group profit from every i3 sold. He declined to give a sales target or identify development costs of the i3, which will be built at the carmaker's factory in Leipzig, Germany.