Five of the top 20 models that emitted more than 150 g/km of CO2 in the first half were from JLR, led by the Range Rover Sport (shown), T&E said.
Jaguar Land Rover has challenged the findings of a report that claims the automaker is at risk of missing its tougher CO2 emissions target in Europe and could face fines.
Analysis of JLR's first-half European sales carried out by green pressure group Transport and Environment showed the automaker was 13 grams per km short of its target, the worst of 13 automakers ranked.
“It is the automaker which has the biggest gap to close during the second half of the year,” the report stated.
"We don't recognize those figures," a JLR spokeswoman told Automotive News Europe. "We are quite a bit closer."
She declined to predict whether JLR would meet its target.
JLR has a special derogation from the European Union that gives it a softer 2020 target of 132 g/km, based on the NEDC cycle.
T&E figures showed JLR’s first half CO2 at 159 g/km, but closed the gap to 145 g/km because of supercredits it earned from sales of the full-electric Jaguar I-Pace as well as credit earned from fitting so-called eco-innovation technology to its cars.
Automakers such as PSA Group and JLR rivals Volvo and BMW were already compliant based on their first-half CO2 figures, T&E said.
Five of the top 20 models that emitted more than 150 g/km of CO2 in the first half were from JLR, led by the Range Rover Sport premium large SUV, T&E said.
The UK automaker’s CO2 emissions actually rose by 1 percent compared with the first six months of 2019, T&E claimed.
JLR, however, is expected to improve its emissions in the second half, T&E said, as the automaker rolls out more plug-in hybrid versions of its SUVs.
Land Rover’s plug-in hybrid share in the first eight months of the year was 6 percent in Europe based on sales of electrified versions of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport large SUVs, according to data from analyst Matthias Schmidt.
The two Range Rover models did not qualify for supercredits due to their higher emissions, but Land Rover is currently in the process of shipping the first plug-in hybrid versions of its best-selling Evoque compact SUV as well as the related Land Rover Discovery Sport. Both SUVs will emit less than 50 g/km of CO2 and so qualify for supercredits.
By the beginning of next year JLR will have seven plug-in hybrids on sale, including versions of the Defender SUV and Jaguar F-Pace premium midsize SUV.
The company has also rolled out an extensive range of variants with mild-hybrid engines and in the first half had the second largest share of hybrid sales in Europe at 23 percent, T&E data showed.
JLR has also removed higher-emissions six-cylinder engines from the Jaguar XE and XF sedan ranges.
Jaguar next year will launch its second electric vehicle, which will be a battery-driven version of the XJ large sedan.
JLR currently does not pool its sales with any other manufacturer to help reduce its emissions, but it now has the option of joining Renault in its European pool after the French automaker announced it was open to offers from companies looking to take advantage of the probability that Renault Group will beat its CO2 target for the year.
New JLR CEO Theirry Bollore joined the company in September from Renault, where he was CEO until last October.
