Trend towards buying fuel-saving cars reduces fuel consumption
Destatis, 21 January 2010
Against the background of high fuel prices, households increasingly bought fuel-saving diesel cars in 2008. In addition, they used their cars to a slightly lesser extent than in the previous years. Thus fuel consumption by households declined by 2.3% in 2008 on a year earlier. Compared to 2000, the level of fuel consumption even fell by 5.6%.
Different trends of petrol and diesel consumption
Fuel consumption by private passenger cars
Between 2000 and 2008, petrol consumption by households declined by nearly 20%. The situation was however different with respect to diesel fuel. While in 2007 diesel fuel consumption (incl. biodiesel) increased by 84.3% on 2000, it declined slightly (0.8%) for the first time in 2008 on a year earlier.Among other things the decline in fuel consumption has been due to technological progress. Between 2000 and 2008, the specific consumption was down from 7.1 to 6.8 litres for diesel-engined passenger cars, while it decreased from 8.5 to 8.0 litres per 100 kilometres for petrol-engined cars. The average fuel consumption by the "passenger car fleet" declined from 8.3 litres per 100 kilometres in 2000 to 7.6 litres per 100 kilometres in 2008. This was a decrease of 8.3% (2008 on 2007: -1.4%).
More diesel and less petrol cars
Stock of passenger cars in households
Another major reason for declining fuel consumption has been the trend towards buying fuel-saving diesel cars. While the total stock of household passenger cars remained almost at the same high level, the number of diesel-engined cars increased by 76.2% between 2000 and 2006. This trend continued in 2008 when the number of diesel cars increased by another 2.5% on the previous year.However, the stock of petrol-engined cars has continuously decreased since 2002 when an all-time high of nearly 35 million vehicles was recorded (2008 on 2007: 0.8%). Due to the above developments, the share of diesel cars in all household passenger cars was considerably up from 11.4% in 2000 to 21% in 2008.
Since 2007, an additional trend reversal has been observed towards smaller cubic capacity classes. In 2006, the proportion of passenger cars with a cubic capacity of more than 1,600 ccm was 47.7%, while it amounted to 47.2% in 2008.
Slightly reduced car usage
Distance travelled by private passenger cars
Another factor which has contributed to the recent decline in fuel consumption is the reduction in the average amount of car-kilometres (2008 on 2007: -0.8%). Diesel car-kilometres even declined by 2.4%. However, the average annual distance travelled by diesel-engined passenger cars still amounted to just under 18,500 kilometres in 2008, while petrol-driven cars on average travelled nearly 11,500 kilometres in that year.
The total distance recorded for all households in 2008 declined by 0.9% on a year earlier. Between 2000 and 2006, it still increased by 3.1%. As regards the total of kilometres travelled by diesel-engined cars in 2008, it remained at the level recorded in 2007. The effect of the reduced average amount of kilometres travelled per diesel-engined car was offset by the increase in the related vehicle stock. The total distance travelled by petrol-engined cars decreased due to the declining vehicle stock.
Less greenhouse gas emissions due to declining fuel consumption
The decline in fuel consumption has also led to a slight reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Between 2000 and 2008, they decreased by about 3.5 million tonnes (-3.9%) to approximately 88.7 million tonnes. This was just above 10% of the direct CO2 emissions in Germany (2008: 832 million tonnes).
Increase in household expenditure for fuels despite that all…
Despite declining consumption, households spent more on fuels in 2008 compared to the preceding year. On the whole, the relevant expenditure climbed by 3% to EUR 46.8 billion. This was particularly due to the increase in fuel prices in 2008. Between 2007 and 2008, these prices were up 4.4% for supergrade petrol and even 14% for diesel fuel.
It remains to be seen, however, whether the developments observed in 2008 really mean a trend reversal in fuel consumption. The trend towards buying cars with a smaller cubic capacity as a result of launching a "scrapping premium", as it is called, can be expected to lead to a further decline in the average fuel consumption. On the other hand, fuel prices were lower again in 2009, and it remains to be seen whether this encourages higher car usage.
Author:
Petra Fehrentz - Federal Statistical Office
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