CFC Solutions says that few private or public sector organisations can currently afford to aggressively pursue green policies and that national and European governmental policies will be crucial to continuing to reduce emissions.
Neville Briggs, managing director at CFC Solutions, said: “Overall fleet CO2 figures are continuing to fall but the rate of reduction is likely to level off as the effect of fleets holding onto cars and vans for longer takes more of an effect. Employers simply cannot afford to change vehicles as often.
“Also, we have seen a market softening among many fleets which have historically pursued strong environmental policies because of the recession and its after-effects. Rightly or wrongly, it is difficult to spend money on greening your fleet when your organisation is making people redundant.”
Briggs explained that against this economic backdrop, the impetus for continuing fleet CO2 reductions would have to come from taxation policy and legislation, both at a national and European level.
He said: “This works in all kinds of ways. For example, we are already seeing some evidence of drivers who may have had low or no wage rises in the last couple of years opting for cars that carry a lower benefit in kind bill thanks to their reduced CO2 rating.
“Another good example is the effect of the congestion charge in London. Fleets that are affected by this are very interested in vehicles that meet the sub-99g/km barrier such as the Fiat 500 Twin Air because they carry a strong operational cost argument.
“Finally, legislation at a European level has a part to play. At the moment, many fleets are unlikely to opt to pay for the technology needed to make engines ever cleaner but the ongoing Euro series of planned reductions will see new vehicle emissions pushed downwards in a structured fashion.
“Our view is that, more than ever, fleet measures when it comes to CO2 are going to be driven in the next few years by financial self interest on the part of employers and their drivers, and that Government needs to bear this in mind.”
Patriot - 18/11/2010 09:35
Neville Briggs should concentrate more on finding solutions to increased payroll taxes and the overall costs of running a fleet of vehicles instead of acting as the mouthpiece for the Euro-federalists. How does increased taxation help businesses which are already struggling with the effects of a general economic down turn,the forthcoming increase in VAT and mountains of Brussels inspired employment legislation? As you cannot spend your way out of reccession you will not help fleet owners and drivers by trying to tax them out of existence. Forget all the tree huggers guff,we are,and have been since 1998 in a period of global cooling. The evidence is staring at us.