Research by economists at SMMT has revealed a dramatic shift in the new carmarket, with hundreds of thousands of buyers moving into cars with lower CO2emissions.
By comparing road tax bands, which are based on tailpipe CO2, the figures show 60.7 per cent of new cars sold last year fell within the cleanest bands A-D (under 165 g/km) compared with just 43.1 per cent in 2000.
"There has been a noticeable shift in the new car market,' commented SMMT chiefexecutive Christopher Macgowan. "This is partly due to concerns about motoring costs and partly because reducing their climate change impact is important to more buyers.
"However, we should not underplay significant fuel economy and CO2 savings from technological advances in new models, including premium brands."
Recently launched British-built models highlight this improvement. The new MINICooper (above) for example, built in Oxford, is 19 per cent better on fuel economy and 16 per cent on CO2 emissions than its predecessor, Halewood's Land RoverFreelander2 petrol boasts a 10 per cent improvement on fuel consumption andemissions over the model it replaced, while a new range of fuel-efficient diesel models has helped Jaguar cut average tailpipe CO2 by 31.5 per cent since 1997.
The latest figures have been revealed as a preview of SMMT's annual new car CO2 report. The launch is planned for early July at SMMT headquarters, Forbes House in London.
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