The economic slowdown and the focus on cost control is manifesting itself in fleets and company car drivers increasingly choosing low emission vehicles and cutting their annual mileages in pursuit of lower corporate and personal tax bills and reduced fuel expenditure.
An analysis of vehicles added to ALD Automotive’s fleet of almost 49,000 reveals that of the almost 1,300 units recently added their average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dropped below 150 g/km for the first time since the company started the data tracking process in January 2003.
The average CO2 figure for company cars delivered to ALD Automotive customers in August was 146.8 g/km - an all-time monthly low - and further down on July’s average of 148.18 g/km.
In the first eight months of this year the average CO2 figure for company cars delivered by ALD Automotive to customers is 151.68 g/km. That compares with an average of 166.8 g/km in the whole of 2003 and 155.8 g/km last year.
Over the same period company cars are also clocking up less mileage, according to the analysis. It reveals that in 2003, the average annual contract mileage on company cars added to the ALD Automotive fleet was 22,475 miles, but today the average has fallen by over 15% to less than 19,000 miles per annum, a reduction of over 3,500 miles a year.
