Greener company cars 'could save firms millions'

News Article - Monday, April 14, 2008

filed under: Business

Switching to greener company cars could save businesses as much as £3 billion a year, a new report claims.

A poll of 400 board-level executives discovered that 55 per cent of those surveyed were encouraged by employers to take measures that reduced the impact on the environment of business travel.

The research by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) suggests that switching to vehicles emitting less than 120g/km CO2 could save an organisation with 50 cars as much as £45,000 every year.

Nigel Underdown, head of transport advice at the EST, points out that cars producing lower levels of CO2 attract tax breaks for employees and reduce the carbon footprint of firms, in addition to saving them money.

According to the EST, 51 per cent of companies providing cars to workers do not currently have an environmental or corporate social responsibility policy relating to them.

Less polluting cars both reduce national insurance bills and fuel costs for businesses and could reduce UK transport emissions by 1.9 million tonnes per year.

Carbon accounting software can help firms to assess areas in which savings can be made, helping them to control costs and improve their green credentials.

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