Growing Popularity Of SUVs Complicates Efforts To Reign In Auto Emissions

Growing Popularity Of SUVs Complicates Efforts To Reign In Auto Emissions

SUVs (left) are rapidly outselling sedans (right), their smaller and more fuel-efficient ... [+] predecessors.



MotorTrend

SUVs are conquering the world. That's a problem for efforts to reign in emissions from the global transportation sector, which accounts for roughly 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

For the first time ever in the U.S. last year, sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) likely accounted for half or just over half of all vehicles sold, according to recent data from IHS Markit, a data and analytics firm. Others are rapidly catching up. Between 2010 and 2019, the share of SUVs in overall car sales in China jumped from 14% to 44%. In In Europe the SUV share climbed from 10% to 36%. 

The SUV's popularity is effectively negating the annual fuel efficiency gains from better technology and tightening fuel economy standards. The average fuel efficiency increases of light-duty vehicles per year has slowed to only around 1.3% in recent years — down from the roughly 2% per year in the handful of years prior, and well below the roughly 3% needed merely to keep total global emissions from cars from rising.