Japanese automaker Mazda has teamed up with its joint venture with China’s Changan to pool carbon credits and help avoid carbon emissions fines, an EU document showed.
EU’s fines, which carmakers have said could total up to 15 billion euros ($17.5 billion) for the industry, were initially envisaged to apply to 2025 carbon emissions levels.
However, in March, the European Commission bowed to pressure from car manufacturers and allowed compliance based on their average emissions over 2025-2027.
Makes a bit of sense, since their Mazda 6e is a rebadged changan, but compliance driven design obviously only makes automakers search for loopholes. It basically ends up creating even more waste, as manufacturers only create cars that are not meant to seriously compete in the market. It’s a lose-lose situation for everyone but politicians, who trick the public into thinking they are addressing the carbon problem, while at the same time taking money from manufacturers. We need solutions that work, not temporary, pretend solutions.