Finance Roll

Germany and Britain have long been seen as leaders in the automobile industry with the stylish and classic looks of Aston Martin and Jaguar synonymous with British culture, just as BMW and Audi are in Germany. As the current economic climate forces fuel prices to rise and concern over the impact of rising CO2 emissions on the environment, the debate as to which country produces the finest cars is now not only based on aesthetics, but also on efficiency too.

The car industry is the cornerstone of Germany's economy, with the industry employing 1.26 million people who produce close to six million cars a year. German cars are renowned for their engineering, luxury and performance but are rarely touted as efficient. Following legislation proposed by the European Commission for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from new cars at the end of 2007, car manufacturers across Europe had to look at ways of increasing fuel efficiency in their new models. In an effort to ease consumers environmental concerns, Porsche and BMW are rolling out gas/electric hybrid cars. BMW have also managed to reduce the average emission of its cars by 2.5%.

The UK car industry has also made steps to become more fuel efficient. Average CO2 emissions in the UK have dropped but not by a huge amount, going from 190g per kilometre in 1998 to 165g per kilometre in 2007. Sales of cars that emit more than 200g per kilometre of CO2, such as models from Land Rover, have fallen sharply in the past year - in some cases by more than 50%. It's not all doom and gloom though, with British company INEOS, a world leading chemical company, claiming that cars that run on household waste could be on the streets by 2011. The process involves producing ethanol by mixing a biological catalyst with carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which are produced by burning biodegradable waste.

While the British Motor Industry is not quite the force it once was, with Germany and France both producing more cars than the UK each year, it is encouraging to know that, while less cars are being produced, the ones that are manufactured are far more efficient. Further proposals from the European Commission have been designed to ensure that the average car sold in Europe produces no more than 120g of CO2 per kilometre by 2012 and are sure to bring all cars - be they British or German marques - to an even keel with regards to efficiency, leaving car aficionados to go back to debating the pros and cons of BMW car finance or why Aston Martins are the best looking cars ever made.