Fiat is lowest polluter. - According to a report by Transport & Environnement, Fiat is the manufacturer of the least polluting cars in Europe in terms of CO2 emissions. The Italian giant, thus, just edges out PSA Peugeot-Citroen (138 grammes per kilometre, against 139) which was last year's European lowest CO2 emission per kilometre champion. Renault retains third place, with 143 g/km, followed by Toyota of Japan. German manufacturers tend to be penalised by the weight of their cars, which increases fuel consumption and, therefore, emissions. BMW is the best placed, thanks to a programme to reduce the fuel consumption of its range, which has seen CO2 emissions fall by 16% in two years. This strategy means that, for the second year running, the group has recorded the largest reduction in emissions of all manufacturers, taking it into the top ten. Of the Japanese manufacturers, Toyota is fourth (147 g/km), while Suzuki (10th), Mazda (11th) and Nissan (13th) also improve their performances. South Korean Hyundai (5th) stands out with an 11% improvement on 2006. In Europe, Portugal is again the country where most vehicles with low CO2 emissions are sold, followed by France, Italy and Denmark. (I.L.)