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example – which only made up 1.1 per cent of all passenger cars sold in Europe last year. The available incentives, and especially their monetary value, differ greatly across Europe. As a result, the market share of ECVs is only somewhat substantial in those countries which offer extensive incentives. Five EU member states do not offer any at all. In fact, an ECV market share of 1 per cent or higher only occurs in Western European countries with a GDP of more than €30,000. In countries with a GDP below €17,000, the share of ECVs remains close to zero. Those include the new EU member states in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, but also crisis-torn Greece. The Hellenic market provides a reality check: only 32 electrically-chargeable cars were sold in 2016, making up 0.04 per cent of the total market. And it’s not just Greece, almost half of all EU member states have an ECV market share of 0.5 per cent or lower. So, for the time being, improving the internal combustion engine and clean diesel technology will continue to play a major role in reducing CO2. Diesel vehicles emit significantly fewer CO2 emissions per kilometre than equivalent petrol-powered vehicles, making a critical contribution to the fight against climate change. At the same time, Europe also urgently needs a more co-ordinated policy approach for air quality and climate change objectives. CO2 reduction was for decades the key priority of policy makers, and our industry did indeed deliver the solutions. Now, local air quality issues have become their main priority, but these require different technical and non-technical solutions. Our industry has technical answers to help tackle both, but they are costly and technology trade-offs must be made. This is a typical example of the complexities auto “THE EUROPEAN AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR ALLOCATES MORE THAN €50 BILLION TO R&D EACH YEAR TO ADDRESS TOMORROW’S CHALLENGES”Pictured: Leveraging the potential of digitilisation to deliver more efficient mobility solutions with lower emissions100 TRANSPORT AND MOBILITY