A Porsche 911 GT3 RS Pollutes Less Than a Peugeot 208, Yet Its Purchase Is Penalized Heavily

Does the ecological penalty operate incorrectly, heavily penalizing certain vehicles considered polluting while leaving other, less polluting cars on paper untouched, yet which actually emit much more CO2? This is the conclusion drawn by Caroom.

A Porsche 911 GT3 RS Pollutes Less Than a Peugeot 208

You are likely aware that the market for sports vehicles is sluggish in France due to the ecological penalty. Up to €80,000 in ecological penalties: this is the amount you would have to pay if your passion drives you to irrationality when purchasing a thermal sports car. Ford Mustang GT, Toyota GR Yaris, or even Porsche 911 GT3 RS: these are sports cars with diverse philosophies but connected by a common point, a very high ecological penalty that tends to reduce sales in France.

Firstly, the community misses out on VAT from the purchase of expensive vehicles. An excessively high penalty pushes buyers to completely lose interest in these vehicles or to buy them elsewhere, finding ways to register them abroad. Secondly, these heavily taxed vehicles are not actually the ones that pollute the most.

Indeed, as explained by Caroom in its study, a Porsche 911 GT3 RS at 310 g/km that drives an average of 3,250 km/year emits 1,008 kg of CO2 per year. A Peugeot 208 PureTech 100 at 116 g/km that drives an average of 12,000 km/year emits 1,392 kg. The GT3 RS actually pollutes 28% less but pays 348 times more in penalties (€80,000 versus €230). The principle of the polluter pays is then undermined.

Is the Ecological Penalty Really Useful?

In Germany, there is no purchase penalty on new vehicles. The taxation primarily relies on an annual tax, the Kfz-Steuer, where the component related to CO2 emissions ranges from €2 to €4 per gram above 120 g/km. Despite the absence of registration taxation, the country has managed to reduce the average emissions of its new fleet by about 29% since 2008, a rate slightly lower than that observed in France (-33%), with an average gap of about 23 g/km between the two markets.

This difference in fiscal policy is particularly visible on the most powerful models. A Ford Mustang V8 GT, a Porsche 911, or even a Toyota GR Yaris can be taxed up to €80,000 in France, while they are completely exempt from a penalty in Germany, despite generally similar emission levels between the two countries.

Italy adopts an intermediate approach with a CO2 penalty limited to €2,500, supplemented by a regional registration tax (IPT) depending on the vehicle's power. In this context, the total purchase cost of a Mustang V8 reaches about €3,952, a significantly lower level than that observed in France, while average emissions in Italy remain relatively contained, around 119 g/km.

Finally, Spain applies a taxation based on the vehicle's price excluding taxes, with a progressive scale ranging from 4.75% to 14.75% for models exceeding 120 g/km, while vehicles below this threshold benefit from a total exemption.

This significantly lower taxation in Italy, Spain, and Germany, combined with substantial reductions in CO2 emissions, tends to prove that the ecological penalty is not the best solution for reducing CO2 emissions from the automotive fleet. Certainly, imposing such a deterrent tax contributes to reducing CO2 emissions, but other countries without such taxes achieve similar results. And for the tax revenues of a state, it is better to collect VAT on the purchase of a car than to lose the sale due to an excessively high penalty.