17.8.2012 Kia earns environmental certification

It is not just a vehicle's tailpipe CO2 emissions that manufacturers are addressing to reduce their environmental impact, there are many other aspects of a car's lifecycle that can release harmful emissions.

Kia’s three latest models – the all-new cee’d hatchback, the Optima hybrid saloon and the refreshed Sorento SUV have all been certified in recognition of outstanding eco-credentials during the entire manufacturing process.

TUV Nord, an independent technical inspection organisation, has certified the three Kia models according to the ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment standard for environmental achievement. The LCA inspection examines the environmental impact of both the manufacturing process and the car throughout its lifetime, taking into account factors such as choice of materials, exhaust emissions and recycling.

Meanwhile, both the previous and current-generation cee'd have been awarded the ISO 14062 Design for Environment (DfE) certification. The DfE inspection examines the overall design of the product, measuring various eco-friendly factors including weight reduction, use of recyclable materials and fuel-efficiency.

Kia's eco-friendly product development process covers five major steps:

- Use of eco-friendly materials
- Application of a check-sheet to evaluate the vehicle's environmental credentials throughout its lifecycle
- Using 3D drawings at the design stage to help verify recyclability
- Detailed physical analysis of the product during the development
process to verify recyclability
- Streamlining of the manufacturing process, through improvements in use of materials and simplification of parts

Employing this system has helped minimise the environmental footprint of Kia's manufacturing process. For example, this year's ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) certifications were awarded following confirmation of decreases in CO2 emissions of between 6% and 25% from the manufacturing of the relevant models.

Kia's first TUV Nord certification was earned in 2008 with the first-generation cee'd, and this year's certifications bring the total number of Kia models with ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) certification to ten. Kia has been awarded both of TUV Nord's major environment-related certifications.

Soon-Nam Lee, Director of Overseas Marketing at Kia Motors Corporation, said, "Since 2008, when the cee’d was first certified, TÜV Nord has recognised numerous new Kia models including the Picanto, Rio and Optima [non-hybrid] last year. We believe this ongoing recognition of Kia's outstanding eco-friendliness will contribute to our rising brand image in Europe."

Whilst managing the lifecycle manufacturing process of each of their vehicles, Kia are also amongst the leading manufacturers for maintaining low CO2 tailpipe output and high fuel economy figures. For example, their latest diesel Rio model emits just 85 gCO2/km and returns an official combined NEDC fuel economy figure of 88 mpg.

Figures like this not only mean congestion charge and VED road tax exemption, but also low fuel costs and low environmental impact, both in terms of local air pollution and greenhouse gas contribution.

Newspress