Kia Sportage wins TUV environmental approval
The world-renowned German certification agency TUV Nord has awarded the all-new Kia Sportage its highest environmental certificate.
Following a rigorous assessment of all environmental aspects, from production to day-to-day running through to recycling, TUV Nord certified that the stylish new crossover complies with the strict environmental standards of the ISO 14040 life cycle assessment.
The new Sportage is produced in Kia’s European factory in Zilina, Slovakia. The factory was certified according to the ISO 14001 life cycle assessment standards in 2007 and was granted a certificate as an environmentally friendly production facility.
Many of the production and waste-management technologies in operation at Zilina are among the most modern in the world. The Kia cee’d, like Sportage, is built in Zilina and was the first car made by a Korean manufacturer to be certified according to the ISO 14040 life cycle assessment standards.
“The eco-balance certificate for the new Kia Sportage is further proof of Kia Motor’s successful environmental strategy,” commented Sun-Young Kim, President of Kia Motors Europe. “Our Research & Development centres have comprehensive expertise in the field of environmentally friendly technologies, and our modern car manufacturing plants work to the highest eco standards. We will continue to use these strengths to ensure that our cars become more and more eco-friendly from generation to generation.”
Environmentally relevant improvements to the Sportage include the significant reduction of the vehicle’s weight. Although the new car has increased in length to 4.44 metres (an increase of 9 cm) the weight has been reduced by between 87 and 160 kilograms depending on specification.
ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment
The ISO 14040 standard describes the principles and framework for a comparative, product-specific life cycle assessment (LCA). For cars, this includes the analysis of energy consumption and emissions and the assessment of the entire life cycle impact on the basis of all data, from raw material and component production to production at the car manufacturing plant right through to recycling. The environmental impact is assessed and the improvements on the previous model are shown in a radar chart.
TUV Nord
The history of the TUV (Technical Inspection Association) has its roots in the age of boiler inspection in the 19th century. Headquartered in Hanover, Germany, it has more than 10,000 employees worldwide in 70 countries. The company’s activities range from technical inspections of power stations, aircraft and vehicles to food and animal feed safety standards and the certification of ethical management systems.