There are a total of 9 companies in this sector. All but one company (FIAT Group) create a positive Sustainable Value. BMW and DaimlerChrysler hold the top two positions. Volkswagen and FIAT Group hold the two lowest ranks. The results show that BMW as the most eco-efficient European car manufacturer uses its environmental resources seven times more efficiently than FIAT. It is interesting to note that FIAT’s poor performance covers all environmental impacts but one (water) so that the results give a rather comprehensive picture of FIAT’s performance. In contrast, the assessment of Volkswagen covers only four of the seven resources considered (NOx-, SOx- and CH4-emissions missing) due to poor reporting. As explained in the survey, resources for which we have no information are valued with a value contribution of 0 €. This conservative estimation may lead to a lower assessment of Volkswagen’s Sustainable Value performance.

Another way to characterize this sector is by looking at the different environmental impacts and their effect on value creation of this sector. The following shows the Return to Cost Ratios of every impact across the automobile sector. The Return to Cost Ratio shows in this case how much Gross Value Added the sector has created using a resource compared to if the resource had been used by the benchmark.

Water and NOx-emissions are the environmental impacts that are used most efficiently and VOC-emissions are the environmental impact that is used the least efficiently in the automobile sector. Moreover, VOC is even used less efficiently than by the benchmark under the future performance scenario. These results reflect the fact that the automobile sector is VOC-intensive. The VOC-efficiency of the EU15 more than doubles between 2003 and 2010. It can therefore be expected that the Sustainable Value of the automobile manufacturers will be under considerable strain in the future due to their lower VOC-emissions. It comes therefore at no surprise that the most important drops in the rankings are, as mentioned before, automobile manufacturers. A good VOC-performance is therefore the best way for a company to prevent such a drop in the future. BMW is a good example in this context. BMW creates positive VOC value contributions even under the strict 2010 benchmark.

Click here to go back to the sector overview.

Printable Version