VEHICLE emission levels are set to become an integral part of the fleet manager's budgeting process as the potential savings from a £50 cut in Vehicle Excise Duty rates become clear. Their role in cutting costs could include coming up with imaginative ways of persuading employees away from the cars they want for esteem purposes towards the more environmentally-friendly models which attract lower VED levels.

A spokesman for the Retail Motor Industry Federation said: 'There won't be a downsizing of fleets en masse. But VED reform will make managers think twice about what cars they offer. The emission cost will become part of wholelife running costs. Imaginative fleet managers will start to look for ways to persuade the employee away from the car with the most goodies by offering incentives to take the more efficient car. They could tell them the alternative choice will save the company money and the employee will get some reward for that.'