Green guide star ratings to be dropped

[Gaz]

I thought the objection was because of the floored way the stars are calculated, essentially making the ecoboost, with a lower l/100km figure somehow was ranked worse than a car with a higher figure?

I didn't particularly like the system. Give the user the RAW facts, and let them make their own decision, IE x l/100km @ x g(co2)/100km. Not a star rating essentially with the government saying this one is better.

Feel similar with ANCAP, you get a start for seat belt reminders? ANCAP should purely be based on how protected you are in a crash if you are using all features as legally required.


http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...-1226542448255

AT a time when fuel economy is a key focus for new-car buyers, a crucial star-rating guide on each vehicle's environmental impact is about to vanish.

The Federal Government plans to abolish star ratings on the Green Vehicle Guide following pressure from Ford, whose locally made "eco" models developed with $42 million of taxpayer money don't meet some government purchasing requirements.

The Green Vehicle Guide lists fuel consumption and air pollution data of most new models and summarises the results with a rating up to five stars, similar to those on whitegoods.

It's used as a benchmark by business and government fleets and one in five new-car buyers visit the site each month.

But the star ratings, which have helped almost two million motorists over the past eight years, are set to disappear from the website on January 1 because, the discussion paper says, "consumers are much more knowledgeable about the environmental impacts of vehicles" than before.

Ford's latest "eco" models, including the four-cylinder Falcon and diesel Territory, don't meet environmental criteria for some government fleets.

Ford says the entire car industry supports the move to drop the consumer-friendly ratings, but several leading brands have broken ranks.

A poll by The Sunday Times found Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Mazda and Suzuki, to name a few, were in favour of retaining the GVG star ratings.

The Australian Automobile Association (which represents seven million motorists) and the Australasian Fleet Management Association (which represents 600 fleet operators who manage more than 800,000 vehicles) are also in favour of keeping the ratings.

Holden did not submit a proposal but supports Ford's position, presumably because some of its cars also don't score highly.