Automakers that miss emissions standards under Australia’s New Vehicles Efficiency Standard (NVES) will be named and shamed in 2026.
The NVES was introduced on January 1, 2025, with fines coming into force from July 1, 2025, for brands exceeding pre-set carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions limits across their model lineups.
The first ‘performance period’ commenced on January 1, 2025, and ends on December 31, 2025.
The NVES Regulator says it will publish the interim result, which it terms ‘interim emissions value’ (IEV) for this period in February 2026.
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Brands that have sold vehicles in excess of the CO2 limits for light passenger vehicles will have an opportunity to offset these with lower-emission vehicles during 2026 and 2027.
December 31, 2027, will be the final day automakers can “extinguish units against 2025 ‘final emissions value’ (FEV)”.
The first penalties will be calculated and officially issued in 2028, three years after the NVES was implemented, based on the FEV.
NVES has been a contentious issue since it was first proposed, with the final two-tier system providing separate CO2 limits for smaller vehicles and larger ones.
This came while the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux utes remain the most popular vehicles in Australia, with both models at the top of the annual sales charts since 2015.
Toyota, Australia’s best-selling vehicle brand every year since 2008 – and well on target to remain on top in 2025 – recently called for NVES to include hybrid vehicles in its targets.
This came only weeks before the European Commission issued a proposed change to previous plans for all new vehicles sold in Europe from 2035 to be zero emissions, which had effectively banned internal combustion-engined cars (ICE).
The revised European regulations lower the previous 100 per cent zero-emission figure to 90 per cent, effectively opening the door for petrol and/or diesel-powered ICE engines in hybrid vehicles to be sold.
In Australia, brands including Nissan and Ford have responded to NVES with model lineup changes and price rises.
Nissan Oceania boss Andrew Humberstone told CarExpert its Ariya electric SUV’s addition to the Australian Nissan lineup was delayed as long as possible but was prompted by the introduction of NVES in 2025 this year.
Similarly, Ford Australia pointed to NVES as a factor in a $5000 price rise across its Mustang lineup in mid-2025, with a further rise already announced for the sports car in 2026.
Ford increased the prices of its Ranger ute and Everest SUV at the same time, however, did not publicly point to NVES as a factor in their respective rises – nor in the dropping of the 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel four-cylinder engine each offered.
The engine, which had been dumped earlier in 2025 in the United Kingdom due to emission laws, was axed in Australia in November 2025.
Ford Australia has confirmed a single-turbo version of the engine as the new entry-level powertrain for Ranger and Everest from mid-2026.
MORE: What the first federal emission standard means for Aussie car buyers
