Automaker rankings 2014: the environmental performance of car companies
The product planning decisions of a small number of automotive companies have an immense influence on the environmental health of the United States and the world. This report—the sixth in a continuing series the Union of Concerned Scientists launched 14 years ago—analyzes the bottom-line environmental performance of eight companies that together account for 90 percent of the cars and trucks sold in the United States. Using publicly available data on model year 2013 vehicles, evaluate each automaker’s average per-mile emissions of smog-forming and global warming pollutants. For the first time since the release of initial report, all eight best-selling manufacturers have reduced both their average global warming and smog-forming emissions compared with their 1998 fleet average, due in large part to more stringent tailpipe emissions standards. However, some manufacturers are still making greater progress than others.