Rumours that Germany’s car industry has succeeded in winning concessions to the proposed stringent average vehicle CO2 emissions laws have been dismissed.

German newspaper Handelsblatt claimed that lobbying from Porsche, BMW and Daimler-Chrysler had succeeded in getting the European Commission to ditch proposals that would require every carmaker’s average fleet emissions to be 130g/km by 2012.

The average emissions of European cars are currently 160g/km.

But Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrat MEP and author of the European Parliament’s draft report on vehicle CO2 emissions, said: “This is simply a shot being fired in a turf war. I do not believe this is the final picture and there are many battles to come.”

The commission is considering the draft report and aims to implement its plans by the end of this year.

Of the 130g/km average, 10g savings have to come through additional measures such as more efficient air-conditioning systems and extended use of biofuels.

Companies such as BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz would struggle under the proposals because of the number of performance cars and large vehicles in their line-ups.

This has prompted the commission to investigate an emissions trading scheme where manufacturers of high-polluting vehicles would pay car firms producing greener models.