New Vauxhall Astra takes first place in Fleet World WLTP Challenge

• New Vauxhall Astra achieves remarkable 85mpg, 40 per cent higher than official figure of 60.1mpg
• New Astra tested against 20 competitors over 215 miles of UK roads
• WLTP Challenge designed by Fleet World to test and prove vehicles’ real-world fuel efficiency

New Vauxhall Astra takes first place in Fleet World WLTP Challenge

New Vauxhall Astra has been named the most efficient vehicle in the Fleet World WLTP Challenge, achieving an outstanding 85mpg. The result far exceeds the car’s official WLTP figure of 60.1mpg (Combined Low), representing an improvement of 40 percent.

WLTP Challenge was introduced by leading UK fleet magazine and website, Fleet World, to test vehicles’ real-world fuel efficiency, while proving to individual motorists and fleet drivers that this is accurately reflected in manufacturers’ official figures. Starting and finishing in Bristol, with a tour through the Midlands, the one-day economy driving event provides comprehensive results to help buyers make an informed decision about their next purchase.

Across a distance of 215 miles, new Vauxhall Astra was truly put to the test, driving through everyday routes designed to simulate a typical journey for an employee visiting clients on business. In a battle between 21 vehicles, the Astra came out on top. Astra was piloted by Vauxhall’s resident eco-driving expert, Andrew Duerden.

Martyn Collins, Editor of Fleet World, said: “The Astra’s remarkable 85mpg performance in the WLTP Challenge just goes to show what can be achieved by an experienced driver allied to an already inherently efficient vehicle. Buyers can have confidence that Vauxhall’s hatchback will achieve or exceed its official 60.1 mpg figure in everyday driving. The fact that the Astra is RDE2-compliant is another welcome benefit, removing the four per cent surcharge for fleet buyers.”

With an all-new powertrain line-up, the latest version of the Vauxhall Astra is more efficient than ever. Its diesel models produce CO2 emissions as low as 90g/km. This allows company car drivers to benefit from further savings, thanks to reduced BiK tax.

One of the UK’s top-selling and best-loved cars, the Astra is a household name for British car buyers with over three million sold in the UK over the last 40 years, including over 30,000 in 2018. More than 25 per cent of British motorists have either owned or driven an Vauxhall Astra, so reaction to a model with significant revisions will always be felt across the market. Building on the wide success of the outgoing model, customers will benefit from reduced CO2 and fuel consumption, as well as a series of class-leading technology and equipment.

Groupe PSA’s passenger cars are all certified under the new EURO 6 requirements and are immediately available for customers.

• All Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall passenger cars are approved under the new EURO 6 emission standard effective on 1 September 2019: “EURO 6d-TEMP-EVAP-ISC”.

• Thanks to sound technological choices made in anticipation of the regulations – SCR “Selective Catalytic Reduction” and GPF “Gasoline Particulate Filter” –, Groupe PSA is once again at the forefront for implementing the more stringent standards.

Nicolas Morel, Executive Vice President for Quality and Engineering at Groupe PSA, confirms: “Groupe PSA was one of the few carmakers ready last year for the first step of WLTP [1] and able to deliver all its range to its customers after 1 September 2018. One year on, Groupe PSA is on schedule again and has punctually type-approved all passenger car models in due time. Our technological choices to treat pollutant emissions allow us to offer our customers compliant and environmentally friendly vehicles.”

The targets for the measurement of passenger car emissions become tougher again on 1 September 2019, with the following additions:

• Test for RDE (Real Driving Emissions): this test defines the admissible deviation between the polluting emissions (NOx, PN) measured on vehicles in real-world driving conditions and the emissions measured in the new certification procedure. The requirement is a coefficient of 2.1 for NOx emissions. Groupe PSA models are approved. Moreover, 80% of Groupe PSA passenger cars are already compliant with the next regulation step “EURO 6d-ISC” to be implemented in January 2020 with a required coefficient of 1+0.43 of measurement dispersion.

• Test for EVAP (EVAPorative emissions): EVAP is the measurement of the amount of hydrocarbons that evaporates from a car’s fuel system over a period of 48 hours. This primarily concerns the fuel tank ventilation of petrol cars.

Test for ISC (In Service Conformity): ISC means that automobiles up to five years old and already on the road must continue to comply with all emissions standards.

These tests have already been completed for all passenger car models and the vehicles are certified accordingly. Customers can order all models from Groupe PSA’s brands (Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall) today and can be sure that their new car already meets all current standards and can be delivered without delay.

[1] WLTP: Worldwide harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure.

Opel Statement on Federal Ministry of Transport Report

Opel welcomes the clarity provided by the report of the German government. The report confirms that our tested cars do not have any devices that recognize whether a vehicle is undergoing an exhaust Emissions Test. The report from the UK government, published yesterday, also proves this.

This is in line with our expectation as we always stated that Opel does not have any devices that recognize whether a vehicle is undergoing an exhaust emissions test. Our software was never designed to cheat or deceive. We meet applicable emissions standards.

Both reports suggest the well-known and well-understood differences between the performance of vehicles in the current lab-based emissions test, which is in urgent need of reform, and in road test conditions. The introduction of RDE testing next year begins to address these differences, although there is work to be done to address boundary conditions relevant to that testing.

Opel is actively engaged in the discussion on RDE. We strongly believe that the industry has to regain trust by increasing the transparency with customers and authorities; and we have taken definitive steps in this direction already last year. As announced on December 15, 2015 and explained in more detail on March 29, 2016, Opel will start an initiative to improve NOx emissions of SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) diesel applications in new vehicles in August. Our offensive also includes a voluntary customer satisfaction field action that will involve Euro 6 SCR vehicles that are already on the road in Europe. This activity will start in June 2016.

This is a voluntary and first early intermediate step towards RDE. Our voluntary action is aligned with the German Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA).

!NEW! Opel Announces Details on Offensive with Fuel Consumption and Emissions

• Opel to publish WLTP test cycle based fuel consumption numbers, reflecting more everyday driving conditions as of June
• From August onwards, Opel will implement improved SCR diesel applications in new vehicles – improvement towards RDE NOx specifications
• Voluntary customer satisfaction field action for existing diesel cars with SCR technology from June onwards
• Opel will implement SCR technology to entire Diesel Fleet Starting as of 2018

Opel has outlined details of its engineering initiative for more transparency, credibility and efficiency as announced last December. As of this summer, the company will take the voluntarily next step to improve transparency and meet future emission protocols. Starting with the new Opel Astra from June 2016 onwards, and in addition to the official fuel consumption and CO2 information, Opel will publish fuel consumption numbers, reflecting different driving behavior recorded under the WLTP test cycle. In addition, Opel will implement an initiative to improve NOx emissions on SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) diesel applications in new vehicles from August onwards. This is a voluntary and early intermediate step towards the so-called RDE (Real Driving Emissions) legislation that goes into effect in September 2017. Opel is offering to provide the regulatory authorities with the engine calibration strategies, which should serve as the basis for a proactive dialogue.

“We at Opel strongly believe that the industry has to regain trust by increasing the transparency with customers and authorities. Opel takes this step towards RDE to show it can be done”, said Opel CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann. “We announced in December in which direction we are going; now we are delivering the details. I ask the European Union as well as the EU member states and other European countries to accelerate alignment on test set-ups and test interpretations on real-driving-measurements to stop the existing uncertainty caused by test results that are hardly comparable.”

Increase of Transparency on Consumption: Opel steps towards WLTP Test Cycle

From the end of June 2016, and in addition to the official fuel consumption and CO2 information of Opel models, fuel consumption numbers recorded under the WLTP test cycle will be published, starting with the new Opel Astra K.

These figures, which will show a fuel consumption range with a low and a high number, will first be offered for the model year 2016 Astra and published on a dedicated Opel micro-website, creating more transparency. Figures determined under the WLTP test cycle will be published for further models later this year.

According to EU plans, the “New European Driving Cycle” (NEDC) will be replaced starting in 2017 with the more modern standard “Worldwide Harmonized Light Duty Vehicles Test Procedure” (WLTP). The WLTP is important to maintain standardized, reproducible and comparable results.

Less emissions for Euro 6 diesel engines: Opel moves towards RDE

As indicated in December, Opel is also taking action related to NOx emissions to improve Euro 6 diesel SCR engines in the direction of future RDE. RDE is the real driving emissions standard which supplements current test methods and measures a car’s emissions directly on the road.

Dr. Neumann emphasized: "I strongly believe that diesel technology will only continue to play a major role in Europe if the industry sticks to the path of continuous improvement. That is one of the reasons why we decided to implement SCR-Technology to the entire diesel fleet starting as of 2018. With this we do not only talk about a strategy of regaining trust, we also talk about a strategy to preserve the advantage of Europe’s automotive industry in diesel technology.”

The start of the implementation for this Euro 6 SCR improvement in new vehicles is currently scheduled for August 2016. In addition, this activity also includes a voluntary customer satisfaction field action that will involve 57,000 Euro 6 SCR vehicles that are already on the road in Europe (Zafira Tourer, Insignia and Cascada). This activity will start in June 2016 already.

!NEW! Opel Goes On the Offensive with Fuel Consumption and Emission

• Engineering initiative for more transparency and credibility
• From Q2 2016, Opel will start publishing WLTP cycle fuel consumption numbers for specific models reflecting more everyday driving conditions
• Engineers developing improved SCR diesel applications – improvement towards RDE NOx specifications, including voluntary customer satisfaction field action

Opel is voluntarily taking the next step to meet future emissions guidelines, both on CO2 and NOx. From Q2 2016, and in addition to the official fuel consumption and CO2 information, fuel consumption numbers recorded under the WLTP cycle will also be published. In addition, diesel engineers have recently started working on an initiative to implement NOx emission improvements on SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) diesel applications. This is a voluntary and early improvement towards the so-called RDE (Real Driving Emissions) legislation that goes into effect in 2017. Opel is committed to providing the testing authorities transparency.

“The events and discussions in the last weeks and months have shown that there is a tremendous focus on the automotive industry and it is now time to act based on the learnings,” says Opel Group CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann. “It is obvious to me that the diesel discussion is a turning point. The world is not as it was before. We cannot ignore this and it is in the hands of the automotive industry to change the perception of the new reality.”

Fuel Consumption and CO2

From Q2 2016, and in addition to the official fuel consumption and CO2 information of Opel models, fuel consumption numbers recorded under the WLTP cycle will be published, starting with the new Astra. This procedure has broad industry acceptance and has been developed to be more representative of what customers will experience in use.

According to EU plans, the “New European Driving Cycle” (NEDC) will be replaced starting in 2017 with the more modern standard “Worldwide Harmonized Light Duty Vehicles Test Procedure” (WLTP). The WLTP – also a test conducted in laboratory conditions – is based on stringent test procedures, more consistent with fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in real-life road traffic. This new test cycle is important to maintain standardized, reproducible and comparable results.

SCR Technology

Related to NOx emissions, Opel is also acting right now. The Rüsselsheim automaker has started working on improved solutions for the effectiveness of exhaust gas treatment systems in Euro 6 diesel engines with SCR technology to make improvements in the direction of future RDE guidelines. RDE is the real driving emissions standard which supplements current test methods and measures a car’s emissions directly on the road.

"Our analyses in the last months show that we have no devices that tell us if our vehicles are in a test cycle or not. Nevertheless, we also believe that we are capable of further improving the effectiveness of reduction of oxides of nitrogen emissions from our Euro 6 diesels with SCR technology and so we are making an improvement towards future RDE specifications,” emphasizes Dr. Neumann. “We will use SCR as the mainstream system for Euro 6 diesel going forward as we continue to develop improved technologies to explore higher efficiencies.”

The work on this Euro 6 SCR improvement has started and we expect a production implementation as of the summer of 2016. This activity will also include a voluntary customer satisfaction field action that will involve 43.000 vehicles that are already on the road in Europe (Zafira Tourer, Insignia and Cascada).These vehicles will get a new calibration once it becomes available.

Opel CEO Dr. Neumann also calls for improving the transparency between automakers and authorities in Europe. “In the USA, the companies disclose their complete calibration philosophy to authorities. I would like to see us embrace this practice in Europe.” In this context, the Opel CEO also wants to suggest that all automakers that are active in Europe take part in a negotiated agreement for more transparency.