French car fleet lowest-polluting in 2009

France’s 2009 car-buyers were the most environmentally-friendly in the European Union , new figures show.Cars bought in France last year released 132 grammes of CO2 per kilometre into the atmosphere, close to 13 grammes less than the European Union average.

Renault

Ecology minister Jean-Louis Borloo suggested the findings showed the effectiveness of the “bonus-malus” system France has had in place since January 2008.

This rewards people who buy cars that emit low levels of CO2 while taxing high-emission vehicles.

In 2009, 49 per cent of cars bought in the country were of the lowest-polluting variety, compared with 14 per cent for big polluters, like 4x4s.

France finished ahead of Portugal and Denmark as number one in the EU.

Finland, Sweden and Greece were the worst polluters.