Sales of environmentally friendly vehicles climb

Sales of environmentally friendly vehicles climb

According to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), sales of lower emission cars skyrocketed in 2012.

Environmentally friendly cars are exempt from vehicle excise duty, because of the low levels of CO2 they produce. Sales of such vehicles, those that emit less than 100g of CO2 per km driven, doubled in 2012, which saw their market share soar to 8.2%.

Motorists across the UK are more and more choosing to buy models with better fuel efficiency, and thus with lower emissions. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main reason is the economic downturn. This is driving motorists to buy smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles, which offer savings on fuel, tax and insurance. The EU has also asked all car manufacturers to lower the average emissions of new cars to 130g CO2/km by 2015.

Vehicle emissions in the UK as a whole fell by 3.6% last year, to an average emission of 133.1g Co2/km, which is down over a quarter from the start of the millennium.

Researcher at SMMT, Matthew Croucher, commented: "Future environmental and economic success will be determined by sustained investment in new technology, R&D, infrastructure and consumer incentives. We are seeing improvement in conventional technologies and the emergence of a range of alternative technologies, creating one of the most innovative periods for the global automotive industry."

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