Green cars are in record demand, one fleet management company says, thanks to a corporate focus on cost control, reducing carbon footprints and an the ever-increasing number of low emission vehicles being launched by carmakers.
UK fleets are taking delivery of environmentally-friendly cars in record numbers, new data from leading contract hire and leasing company ALD Automotive suggests. The firm which operates a fleet of around 50,000 vehicles, revealed that in 2009 average CO2 emissions of new company cars delivered to customers dropped to an all-time low of 145.5 g/km.
That compares with an average figure of 150.5 g/km in 2008 and 166.8 g/km in 2003, the year ALD began recording CO2 emissions data.
Month-on-month last year the average CO2 emissions for new company cars supplied by the firm was consistently below 148 g/km and the last three months averaged 145 g/km (October), 143 g/km (November) and an all-time low of 136 g/km in December.
Company cars added to the ALD fleet are also clocking up less mileage, according to the analysis.
It reveals that in 2003, the average annual contracted mileage for company cars was 22,475 miles, but in 2009 the average had fallen to 18,204 miles – a reduction of more than 4,000 miles a year.
Undoubtedly, says the fleet firm, the continuing trend towards low emission company cars has been significantly influenced by the Government’s decision to link all motoring taxes – benefit-in-kind tax, Vehicle Excise Duty and most recently capital allowances – to vehicle CO2 levels.
Meanwhile, improved travel planning and mileage management by both businesses and company car drivers as a result of a focus on carbon footprint reduction has contributed to the steady decline in journey distances in recent years.
Add in the fact that there are today hundreds of models available from a wide range of carmakers that are classed as ‘low emission’ and that number increases month-on-month as new models are launched, and the clear expectation is that average CO2 emissions for new company cars will continue to decline.
ALD Automotive marketing director David Yates said: “We have witnessed a huge shift in the last seven years in the make-up of our fleet in terms of both the type of company cars increasingly chosen by businesses and their drivers, and the amount of mileage clocked up.
Mr Yates also added: “Despite publicity around alternative engine technology such as hybrid and electric, we believe that low emission fuel-sipping petrol and diesel company cars will continue to dominate fleet choice lists for the foreseeable future.”
