Rental companies should do more to alert customers to the emissions output of their vehicles, according to a rental management company.

Neil McCrossan, CEO of Nexus Vehicle Rental, criticised the lack of CO2 data provided by UK rental companies and called for more information to be offered to fleet managers.

“Manufacturers and motor retailers are doing a lot to help car buyers understand the impact of their carbon footprint,” he said.

“But unfortunately this data is not yet easy to access when it comes to vehicle rental.”

Mr McCrossan explained that the grouping of vehicles by variant meant that managers were faced with a wide range of emissions in each group, with no information on the most environmentally friendly option.

“The grouping of vehicles by body shell means that you will find a fairly wide range of CO2 emissions in one group.

“This makes it difficult for companies and fleets to be certain that they are selecting a vehicle that has the lowest possible emissions for its size,” he said.

“What we believe should happen is for rental companies to ensure that car groups not only reflect vehicle size, but that vehicles with similar CO2 emissions are grouped together.”