There are three reasons that Porsche is concerned about London’s impending congestion charge. First the people don’t want it, second it affects the sales of Porsches, and because it unfairly punishes the people by raising money for the city of London through a sort of taxation without direct representation, and is therefore unlawful.

Another observation: Porsche is by no means the carmaker in European Union with the lower overall emissions, but let’s look at the numbers…

The 911 has a 3.6 liter H-6 engine this base Carrera has a combined cycle of 25.7 mpg, with CO2 emissions of 266g/km. The car also costs $73,000 US, or £61,620.

The 2.7 liter H-6 Boxster engine costs $46,000 US or £33,375. It however with it’s smaller engine gets a very reasonable 29.7 mpg on the combined cycle with 227 g/km of CO2 emissions. The 3.4 liter version of that engine produces just 254 g/km. These three models are sports cars. Competitor Ferrari on the other hand produces a V8 engine in the F430, which has output of 420 g/km - quite a lot- and gets only 15.4 miles per gallon. The V12 599 GTB that Ferrari makes produces 490 g/km and drinks a gallon in 13.2 miles.
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As Americans struggle with the introduction of more and more speeding and red-light enforcement cameras, Britons, who have dealt with the cameras for many years now, are also struggling to come to grips with enforcement. In a recent survey of 500 Britons conducted by the IAM Motoring Trust Survey, 78% of Britons approved of speed cameras, up 9% from the year before. Before you start thinking these numbers are fantastics, it’s key to note that they are on the overall decline. In 1999, cameras received a 90% approval. 

So what’s going on here? Why are the numbers dropping? Well, only 36% believe that cameras were positioned only at serious crash sites. Further, only 39% believed that revenue generation was not the motive for speed camera use. Since fines often generate more revenue for additional cameras, IAM acknowledges that breaking the link between enforcement and revenue is the key to gaining public confidence.

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The AP reported today that Briton Tim Brady will be jailed for 10 weeks as a result of his conviction for speeding in a 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo - at 276 KM/hour (172 MPH). The record set by Brady for highest recorded speed on a British motorway beats the old record of 251 KM/hour set by car dealer Jason McAllister in 2003.

Judge David Morton called the act “criminally self-indulgent.”

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The change in the U.S. Congress, which officially take place in January, signals a shift in the way U.S., Asian, and European automakers must do business in capturing the lucrative American auto market.

The changes could be vast and penetrating. For one, you see a change from a Republican-controlled Congress, which favors big business, to a Democratic-controlled Congress, which favors improved environmental policy, universal healthcare, and more rights for workers. To put it another way, the Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee was Republican James Inhofe of Oklahoma. He has stated that he does not believe in global warming – an issue clearly important to the automotive industry. In the Democratically-controlled Congress, a more liberal perspective will hold the chair. Senator Barbara Boxer of California, a person who regularly drives a Toyota Prius, will lead the committee.

What all of this means is fairly straight forward and carmakers should be prepared. First, automakers, especially American ones, cannot expect special government protections like those that might have been afforded by the GOP in the last Congress. Further, they will not be able to rely on special incentives, including emergency anti-bankruptcy loans as we saw in the 1980s with Chrysler.

Secondly, and this applies especially the European automakers, the carmakers in 2007 will have to face fewer handouts to big oil (thus affecting the price of oil and causing consumers to think twice about buying vehicles of poor fuel efficiency), increasingly stringent standards on emissions and CAFE laws.

Mercedes sells only one diesel car in the USA and VW has sold one for the 2006 Jetta. Despite over producing this car for calendar year 2007, VW will fall short of diesel vehicles for the year as it struggles to introduce cars that meet 2007 diesel standards. VW, BMW, and Mercedes have all produced diesel version of their cars (which outsell the regular petrol version in Europe). Still, when it comes to the marketability and emissions standards of the U.S. they have been unable to bring the cars across the ocean. If the three are successful in this over the next two years, they stand to make a lot of money so long as they can keep up with emissions requirements that stand to become stricter in the next congressional period.

This may very well be the session of congress where lawmakers realize that the world’s oil supply is not infinite and that global warming is a clear and present danger to the environment and national security.