IN praising the fleet industry and car manufacturers for actions they have taken in recent years to stem vehicle pollution - such as the introduction of unleaded fuel and catalytic converters on cars - the 1996 Lex Report on Motoring, 'Listening to the needs of Company Motorists' says government action is now essential. And it backs the view first touted by Ford chairman and managing director Ian McAllister for a scrappage tax.

The report says the government needs to look seriously at introducing an incentive for people to scrap their old cars and replace them with more fuel efficient models with 'cats'.

Meanwhile, the dramatic increase in fleets buying diesel cars has slowed, according to the report. This view is supported by fleet sales figures for the first five months of 1996, which show diesel sales down by 0.8% against 1995 levels. Lex believes that diesel cars' sales - running at 24% of all fleet cars bought against 22% last year according to the report - will continue to rise, albeit more slowly than in the early 1990s so long as they continue to offer better fuel consumption figures than petrol models. But the debate over which fuel is more environmentally friendly is still moving in the direction of unleaded petrol with 52% of fleet managers supporting it compared with 23% for diesel.