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New AZT Study: How Can CO₂ Emissions of Individual Automotive Spare Parts Be Calculated?
Together with the Technical University of Munich and the Swedish institute Claims Carbon, AZT has developed a new methodology to calculate greenhouse gas emissions of individual automotive components—without access to proprietary manufacturer data. The results have now been published in the renowned journal Cleaner Environmental Systems (Elsevier).
Illustrative image, generated by AI
October 2026
New regulatory requirements, growing environmental awareness among customers, and increasing stakeholder expectations in the automotive repair industry demand ever more detailed disclosure of emissions. For insurers, repair shops, and spare parts suppliers, this poses a significant challenge as standardized emission data for individual automotive spare parts do not yet exist, and access to the relevant details from manufacturers is lacking.
Our newly developed method combines methodological components of two independent estimation pathways into a robust ensemble triangulation:
- Top-Down: Manufacturer-reported total vehicle emissions are proportionally allocated to individual components.
- Bottom-Up: Emissions are calculated from the material composition of the component and market-standard emission factors.
The method was empirically validated using the example of a passenger car front door—one of the most frequently involved components in collision repairs—based on data from 50 different vehicle models and approximately 180 OEM sustainability reports.
Key Findings
- The emissions of an average passenger car front door in a repair scenario amount to approximately 77 kg CO₂e—a value that was corroborated by independent reference values from repair literature (63–73 kg CO₂e).
- The material mix (e.g., aluminum vs. steel) significantly influences emission intensity and can distort results by up to a factor of 3 if not properly differentiated.
- The geographic origin of materials affects emissions to a comparable extent—driven by the strong heterogeneity of regional energy mixes and production conditions.
In practice, the method enables a portfolio-wide Scope 3 emission analysis across different vehicle manufacturers, component types, and materials. Information on component mass and broad material classes is sufficient to produce meaningful emission values—data that many industry stakeholders already have access to.
The AZT ensemble method thus closes a methodological gap for all downstream actors in the automotive value chain. At the same time, the results demonstrate that standardized emission factors and a component-level disclosure requirement—comparable to the EU Battery Regulation—would be an important next step toward a circular economy and well-informed repair decisions.
