Carmakers face hefty CO2 fines from 2021: study

Big-name carmakers including Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler face fines running into the billions for failure to meet tough new European carbon dioxide emissions limits slated for 2021, a study has found.

"Only four out of 11 carmakers are forecast to meet the EU 2021 CO2 emission target, with the rest facing significant fines," researchers from British firm PA Consulting said in a statement Friday.

European Union nations agreed in 2014 that carmakers should limit CO2 emissions to 95 grams per kilometre across their entire model range within seven years.

The figure for 2015 stood at some 130 grams per kilometre on average.

If the target is not met, the groups must pay fines of 95 euros ($114) per gram over the limit, multiplied by the number of cars they sell in 2020.

"Most carmakers will face penalties," especially German manufacturers which often offer larger, more polluting engines, the study authors forecast.

"There is nothing less than a revolution facing the car industry and those manufacturers who fail to keep up face potential fines in the billions," PA auto expert Thomas Goettle said.

Germany's BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler, US-based Ford, Italian-American Chrysler, France's PSA and South Korea's Hyundai will be unable to get their emissions under control by the deadline, according to the study.