The continuing corporate focus on vehicle operating costs coupled with a widening choice of low emissions cars and improved journey management means fleets are taking delivery of environmentally-friendly models in record numbers and employees are travelling fewer miles.

New data from ALD Automotive, which operates a fleet of almost 60,000 vehicles, reveals that in the first nine months of 2010 average CO2 emissions of new company cars delivered to customers dropped to an all-time low of 142.6 g/km.

That compares with an average figure of 145.5 g/km last year and 166.8 g/km in 2003, the year ALD began recording CO2 emissions data.

ALD’s analysis of the company cars it has delivered this year to customers also reveals that 81% have been diesel powered, 18% petrol-engined with the remainder being hybrids. ALD currently has almost 300 hybrid models on its fleet.

Currently almost 11% of the company cars on the ALD fleet are sub-120 g/km vehicles, which mean employees qualify for the special 10% rate of benefit-in-kind tax (13% on diesel models), with two-thirds falling in the 120-160 g/km category.