Electric cars however may become cheaper under the new restrictions.
The laws will be on the books from January 1st, 2019 and will require importers to pay fines on cars which omit more than 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre.
Under the current rules, the relevant limit is 130 grams of CO2.
The impact will be particularly significant in Switzerland due to the higher use of SUVs, four-wheel drives and other large sports cars, which car advocates say are necessary to traverse the country’s mountainous terrain.
Christoph Wolnik, a spokesperson for car importer Auto Schweiz, told Swiss daily 20 Minutes that every gram above the CO2 limit will cost car importers CHF109 - with the total likely to be around CHF200 million in 2020.
“In Switzerland we can never achieve this amount” he said.
Wolnik however argues that while shorter-term cost increases may be problematic, the longer-term impact is likely to be positive - with imports of electric vehicles likely to climb.
“We hope that we will be able to reduce the CO2 average considerably and keep the fines as low as possible next year,” he said.
Electric cars currently account for five percent of total vehicles in Switzerland, with the target set at 10 percent in 2020.
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