Provisional data shows new cars sold in 2013 were 4% more efficient than the year before.

European Union targets for CO 2 emissions from vehicles have been met two years ahead of schedule, according to provisional data from the European Environment Agency.

The report, released annually, showed the average emissions level of a new car sold in 2013 was 127 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, beating the 2015 EU target of 130g CO 2 /km.

In February, the European Parliament voted to set the world's toughest standards for carbon dioxide emissions from new cars. Manufacturers will now have to keep reducing emission levels to meet targets of 95g CO 2 /km by 2020.



Cars are responsible for around 12% of total EU emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, with EU legislation setting mandatory reduction targets for new vehicles. The targets for 2015 and 2020 represent reductions of 18% and 40% respectively, of the 2007 average emission of 158.7g/km.



Whilst the collective EU target has been met, it is not yet confirmed whether individual manufacturers have met their own targets, which is based on the average mass of the cars they sell. These statistics are expected later this year.

Hans Bruyninckx, executive director of the European Environment Agency said:

The average car sold last year was almost 10% more efficient than the average car sold in 2010, when monitoring started. This is good news.

But passenger t﻿ransport still generates a significant part of total greenhouse gas emission of the EU so we need to think about more sustainable transport systems- the car cannot solve all our problems in the 21st century.

On average, the most efficient cars were bought in the Netherlands (109g CO 2 /km), followed by Greece (111g) and Portugal. The country selling the least efficient cars was Latvia (147g), Estonia(147g) and Bulgaria(142g).

In the UK, 63.3% of new cars met the 2015 emission target, and 3.3% are already meeting the 2020 standard, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The UK had the highest increase in the number of newly registered vehicles in Europe, up 11% on 2012.



A total of 24,000 electric vehicles were registered in Europe in 2013, and whilst only representative of a small percentage of all new cars sold, it is a 71% increase on the year before. 31,000 plug-in hybrid cars were also registered.