Tougher emissions standards mandated for Australian new cars from 2025

The Federal Government has announced newly-introduced vehicles will need to meet the stricter Euro 6d noxious emissions standard from December 2025.

The level of aromatic hydrocarbons in 95 RON unleaded petrol will also be reduced by December 2025, when the previously announced reduction to sulphur limits to 10 parts per million will also come into force.

Plans to improve Australia’s fuel quality were initially planned to be introduced in 2024, with government-subsidised facility upgrades required at Australia’s two remaining refineries.

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The changes – separate to proposed Fuel Efficiency Standards to regulate manufacturer CO2 levels and increase EV and hybrid uptake – will bring Australia’s emissions and fuel quality standards “in line with 80 per cent of the global car market, including the US, Canada, the EU, United Kingdom, Japan, China, Korea and India”.

Existing new passenger vehicles, SUVs and light commercial vehicles – including utes – introduced in Australia before December 2025 are expected to have until sometime in 2028 to meet the tougher noxious emissions standard.

The Euro 6d standard has been required for every new car sold in Europe since January 2021.

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Current vehicles sold in Australia are only required to meet the Euro 5 emissions standard, enforced from November 2016 for all light vehicles.

The stricter Euro 6 standard will likely impact light commercial vehicles – including popular utes like the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max – which will require updates.

Versions of these utes sold in Europe that meet the Euro 6 standard require the use of AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid, which assists in reducing harmful gases from being released into the atmosphere.

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Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber told The Australian Financial Review [↗] the standards bring Australia closer to established international standards.

“This is a necessary step. Automotive manufacturers have been calling for an improvement to Australia’s fuel quality standards for more than a decade,” he said.

Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Catherine King said the changes would save lives.

“The changes, along with Fuel Efficiency Standards, are part of delivering cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars and tackling transport costs for Australian families and businesses.

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“Tightening Australia’s noxious emissions standards will prevent deaths caused by toxic air pollution.

“Noxious emissions contribute to strokes, respiratory illnesses and cancer and equivalent standards have already been introduced in countries such as the US, China, India and Japan.”

“These updates to our vehicle standards will see almost 18 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions cut from the transport sector by 2050 – equivalent to taking 280,000 cars off the road,” said Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.