The Government is set to kick gas-guzzling cars into touch with widespread reforms aimed at promoting fuel economy and reducing emissions.
The new measures are in line with international best practice where fuel economy and emissions labelling on every car is compulsory. The legislated requirements are expected to be backed through information campaigns and resources such as websites to provide information to consumers.
Currently, motor manufacturers in South Africa are not required to disclose any information on fuel economy and emissions in the specification sheets of their cars. There are no official sources of such data available to consumers. The Department of Minerals and Energy proposed introducing voluntary reforms from this year to become mandatory by 2008. These will require each vehicle to display a sticker that indicates its fuel and emission efficiencies.
Such requirements are already mandatory in Australia; one source says that South Africa intends implementing the Australian model.
Tax breaks, and possibly subsidies, for purchasers of fuel-efficient vehicles and the restructuring of import taxes to take into account fuel economy and emissions, are also under consideration.
This is in line with a discussion paper released by the Treasury last month, which highlighted the fact that there was a need to reform vehicle excise duties (currently based on price) because they did not take technologies that reduce emissions into account.
The energy department’s principal energy officer of the directorate of energy efficiency and environment, Maphuti Legodi, said the department was engaging the South African Bur eau of Standards (SABS), the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers in South Africa (Naamsa) as well as the Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry to get the reform programme up and running.
Legodi said that the energy department had looked at practices regarding fuel economy and emissions of a number of countries such as America, Australia, Denmark and the United Kingdom to guide the formulation of South Africa’s reforms.
“As a country we are learning from the international community,” said Legodi, adding that the energy department hoped to set an example for the rest of Africa. It is going to take a long time to phase out the manufacture of fuel inefficient vehicles, but we are planning that labeling will be compulsory by 2008; up until then it will be voluntary,” said Legodi.
Legodi said that from the beginning of 2008 all new vehicles in dealerships would have a sticker on their windscreen displaying gas emissions and fuel economy data.
Currently there are no resources available to South African consumers who want to consider fuel economy and emissions when purchasing new vehicles. The Automobile Association’s (AA) divisional manager of technical services, Colin Mussett, said that manufacturers were not required to provide fuel economy data in its specification sheets and that most chose not to.
“A lot of manufacturers don’t do it because it leads to a lot of grief when a consumer’s vehicle doesn’t meet the estimated fuel consumption levels,” said Mussett.
Mussett said international data might not be correct for South Africa because specifications on vehicle models may vary according to country and therefore the only resource available was car magazines.
Naamsa director Nico Vermeulen said the industry body was engaging in discussions with the energy department over the proposed labelling programme, which would follow the Australian model.
Vermeuelen said that currently manufacturers were responsible for doing the fuel economy and emissions testing according to European standards, which were then verified by car magazines such as Top Car.
Legodi said that the department reforms would give the responsibility of verifying manufacturers testing to the SABS regulatory affairs department.
Legodi confirmed that the energy department was in discussions with the Treasury and the industry department to look at ways of promoting the take-up of fuel efficient vehicles, such as cutting import taxes on fuel economic models and offering subsidies to consumers.
Cutting the vehicle excise duties was suggested in a recent Treasury draft paper, A Framework for Considering Market-Based Instruments to Support Environmental Fiscal Reform in South Africa, which claimed there was a need for reforming duties (currently based on price) because they did not take technologies that reduce emissions into account.
“To the extent that more expensive vehicles use better technologies to reduce emissions into the atmosphere, current imports are not supportive of environmental objectives,” said the report.
Naamsa’s fuels and emissions working group chairperson, Stuart Rayner, said they are fully supportive of the DME’s efforts to improve fuel efficiency but they would not support a change to the ad valorem customs and excise duty.
“If current fuel prices are not sufficient to persuade new vehicle buyers to look into the fuel economy of vehicles then I don’t know what is,” said Rayner.
Legodi also said that a gas-guzzlers’ tax like those of the US and Denmark could be imposed on manufacturers who continue to produce fuel- inefficient vehicles.
Musset said legislation that laid out requirements for regular fuel economy and emissions testing of older cars, was also expected and the AA was currently investing in testing equipment valued at R100 000 for each of their 35 testing stations.
“Anyone who is concerned about the environment and our natural resources should welcome this type of legislation,” said Musset.
“People may look at it as a negative in the beginning saying, ‘Damn, I have to take my car for a check’, but they should look at the positives to the environment and vehicle performance.”