The data also shows that new vans now emit almost 6 grams of CO2/km below the 2017 target.

Around 1.4 million new vans were registered in the European Union in 2014, with average emissions of 169.2 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometre, 4g/km less than those sold in 2013. This is significantly below the 2017 target of 175g/km, which was already reached in 2013, four years ahead of schedule.

Key findings: 

• The EU market for vans grew by 18% in 2014. Registrations increased in all EU Member States compared to 2013, except for Malta and the Netherlands. More than 60% of the vehicles were registered in three countries: France (24%), United Kingdom (21%) and Germany (15%).
• Diesel vehicles make up the vast majority of van sales (97%). Alternative fuel vehicles using, for example, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or natural gas (NG), represent less than 2% of the fleet, with electric vehicle sales comprising less than 0.5%.
• The average emission levels vary across Europe. Slightly more efficient models were bought in the pre-2004 EU Member States (169.0g/km) compared to the EU Member States that joined after 2004 (171.6g/km). 
• Emissions levels were lowest among new vans sold in Portugal (145.1g/km), Malta (145.7g/km) and Bulgaria (148.6g/km). At the other end of the scale, emissions were approximately 30% higher for the average vans sold in Slovakia (193.3 gCO2/km), the Czech Republic (191.1g/km) and Germany (190.4g/km).
• The increasing fuel efficiency of vans observed in 2014 is similar to that recently reported by the EEA for new passenger cars sold, which improved by 2.6% between 2013 and 2014.

The EEA added that final data will be published in the autumn after van manufacturers verify the preliminary data.