LEX Vehicle Leasing saw a huge surge in fleet car deliveries last month and a major swing to diesel as drivers minimised their tax bills under the new CO2-based system.

Lex delivered nearly 3,000 cars in March, almost 50% of which were powered by diesel - close on twice the diesel penetration of the national fleet market.

In a further tax-beating development, nearly 30% of cars delivered by Lex were Ford Focus-size or smaller, an indication that drivers are downsizing or downpricing to limit their benefit in kind tax exposure.

Lex has also seen the number of hits from drivers using the company car tax calculator on its website more than double over the past couple of months, further evidence of drivers waking up to the latest tax changes.

In March, the top 10 best selling models on the Lex fleet were the BMW 3-series and the Volkswagen Golf, followed by the Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Passat, Vauxhall Astra, Ford Focus, Audi A4, Vauxhall Corsa, Vauxhall Vectra and Renault Clio.