Suggested Citation:
Cazzola, Pierpaolo, Leonardo Paoli, Jacob Teter (2023)

Trends in the Global Vehicle Fleet: Managing the SUV Shift and the EV Transition

Motor emissions could have fallen by over 30% without SUV trend. Global fall averaged 4.2% between 2010 and 2022 but would have been far more if vehicle sizes stayed same. This is the latest update of the GFEI benchmarking report looking at the specific fuel consumption of light-duty vehicles (LDVs). It focuses on changes between 2019 and 2022, in particular the impact of Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and electric vehicle (EV) market changes. Key developments include a 15% contraction of global LDV sales in 2020 as a consequence of the pandemic, and a limited recovery in sales through 2022. The sales-weighted specific energy consumption of LDVs decreased in all major car markets from 2019 to 2022, improving at an average yearly rate of 3.2% and reaching 6.9 Lge/100 km in 2022 (0.64 kWh/ km). This is a doubling of the average improvement rate observed between 2005 and 2019 (1.6%) (Figure ES1). Direct CO2 emissions have declined even faster, at a rate of 2.1% per year between 2005 and 2022, as electrification affects carbon emissions more than energy consumption.