PERSONAL TAX – The tax on company cars is based on a sliding scale where lower CO2 emitting cars attract a lower Benefit in kind percentage.
REDUICING RUNNING COSTS – Many organisations have adopted whole life cost as a method of selecting vehilces. This ensures that costs which are linked to vehicle efficiency (such as National Insurance and Fuel) are built into the vehilce selection process.
FUEL COSTS – Fuel costs have increased rapidly in recent years and are expected to continue to rise in the long term.
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS – People are more aware on environmental issues and more specifically the very visible use of a vehilce. Some low emission vehilces such as the Toyota Prius have also become the vogue due to a number of high profile celebrities adopting it as their vehicle of choice.

Over all there has been a fundamental shift in terms of how manufacturers are approaching developments in engine technologies. Fuel efficiency is a key factor in new developments, influcenced by the EU Directives on emissions standards and the escalating price of fuel.
One of the key developments to help increase vehicle efficency has been the downsizing of engines. What makes this more impressive is that it has been done in a way which enhances, rather than reduces the driver experience whilst also significantly reducing the environmental impact of the vehilce. The mantra that “bigger is best” may no longer hold sway.
In considering the appropriate fleet car now, we suggest that consideration of the acutal power output of the engine is more important than size, in fact many manufacturers will display the power output in the vehicles description. Often a single size of engine may have 3 or 4 derivatives with different power outputs due to the tunning of the engine and different turbo chargers.