German carmaker BMW is the top manufacturer when it comes to making cars which create less carbon for the amount of power used.
That’s according to a new index of major manufacturers which measures how much CO2 is generated for every unit of BHP (brake horse power) produced.
German brands appear to outdo French models in the table from online car advisors Clean Green Cars.
The Index of Efficiency goes on the premise that the more efficient the engine, the lower the amount of CO2 that will be emitted for each unit of power.
BMW storms to the top of the table because of its Efficient Dynamics programme, with only 0.74 CO2 per bhp, while mainstream makers like Mini, Japan’s Toyota and Beetle and Campervan maker VW – also German – do well too.
The advisors say Mini benefits from its BMW-sourced engines, Toyota does well partly because of hybrids and VW’s TSI petrol engines are particularly efficient.
Not everyone is having such success with efficiency. Some manufacturers tend to make small cars using old-fashioned petrol engines, such as the 1.1 litre eight valve engine still used in Peugeot and Citroen models, which has a CO2 per bhp figure of 2.25.
Clean Green Cars says this highlights the fact that buyers need to check carefully which engine to go for, even within the same model range.
