Despite the growing importance of automotive CO2 regulations, a uniform global approach to tackle the issue has not yet been developed. Countries have adopted different regulatory policies and implementation procedures, resulting in a high degree of complexity in the global landscape. In its new report, “The Automotive CO2 Emissions Challenge,” global management consultancy Arthur D. Little (ADL) predicts the future development of automotive CO2 up to 2020, and explains what steps OEMs should take to overcome future challenges. “Oil dependency and climate change are topics highly debated by governments and communities,” says Fabrizio Arena, Partner of ADL’s Automotive & Manufacturing Group. “As a consequence, OEMs must define investments, control manufacturing costs and constantly review their car portfolios to cope with worldwide future challenges.” In this study, ADL considered a wide set of drivers to predict the future development of automotive CO2 regulations up to 2020. Following quantitative analysis as well as qualitative interviews with industry experts, ADL predicts oil price will be the main driver in CO2 regulation; coupled with other foreseeable drivers including climate change commitment. On the basis of these findings, ADL predicts countries that are regulated up to 2020 will not change their policies, given that they have prepared for a slight increase in oil price. The only exceptions are China and India due to factors such as a booming population, increasing wealth per capita and a growing demand for road transportation fuel. “With more stringent and converging CO2 emissions standards in both advanced and emerging markets, OEMs will have to think about their CO2 strategies globally,” adds Arena. “Technology such as aerodynamic, light-weight designs and NEV technologies will be more critical than ever in making the necessary improvements to reach the requirements.” The full report is available at

www.adl.com/CO2challenge