BMW aims to reduce CO2 output by 20% in 2020

German high-end car-maker BMW aims to slash the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by its cars sold in Europe this year by 20 percent, its chief executive said.

The pledge comes as new European Union regulations bite this year, requiring car-makers to sharply reduce fleet-wide emissions on pain of massive fines.

“We will achieve an improvement of 20 percent in Europe this year alone” compared with 2019, CEO Oliver Zipse said during a speech in western German city Bochum.

Manufacturers and experts agree that sales of battery-electric and hybrid cars must rise massively if companies are to squeeze CO2 output below the threshold of 95 grammes per kilometre on average.