It follows news that MG Rover's sister company, Powertrain, has announced a pilot programme to encourage Birmingham's taxi drivers to cut vehicle's emissions.
Powertrain has been working with Birmingham City Council on offering the city's cab drivers the chance to convert their vehicles to LPG using its K-series engine.
Fleet News revealed in January that the independent British manufacturer was planning ways to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions on certain vehicles which would become available during the summer. Although LPG conversions increase the list price of cars, company car drivers gain an advantage in lower CO2 emissions than petrol and a 1% discount on the rate of benefit-in-kind tax, as long as the CO2 figure is approved by the Inland Revenue. However, for those cars where the gas CO2 figure is not Inland Revenue approved, the costs of the conversion is ignored for BIK purposes.
An MG Rover spokesman said: 'We are taking LPG very seriously, and it isn't just to do with this taxi project. We will be in a position to explain in more detail in a matter of weeks.'
The LPG conversion for the black cab costs £6,000, but drivers can obtain a PowerShift grant towards 75% of the conversion cost.
It is estimated that the remaining cash spent on the conversion can be recouped by the driver within 12 months through the difference in forecourt prices between LPG and diesel.
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