Leasing firm Ogilvie Fleet has hit out at the Government for hypocrisy in its approach to clean and economical fleet transport.
Speaking in the run-up to the General Election, sales and marketing director Nick Hardy said the current company car taxation system needed to be “retuned” by whichever political parties were voted into power, and claimed the current Government’s messages around diesel and plug-in vehicles were skewed.
Hardy declared the solution was to overhaul the existing company car taxation system, but CO2 should remain as the measurement standard, rather than an air quality of NOx-based regime.
“The Government’s denigration of diesel is sending mixed messages to fleet managers and company car drivers,” he told BusinessCar.
“I have seen road signs displaying messages urging motorists not to drive diesel because of air quality issues, but simultaneously in 2016/17 the Government will remove the 3% benefit-in-kind tax surcharge on diesel cars.
“The effect of that will be that drivers’ tax bills will reduce. In 2016/17, taxation rates will rise by two percentage points, but the net effect for the driver of a diesel company car will be a tax saving, as the removal of the 3% surcharge will more than offset the tax rise.”
He added that the gradual taxation increases on ultra low emission vehicles contradicted the Government’s public support for such models: “What’s more, benefit-in-kind tax on zero-emissions and plug-in hybrid models is being loaded with significant year-on-year increases for the next five years, while simultaneously the Government wants to encourage demand for these vehicles.
“The next Government must be mindful that if its environmental objectives are to be met, tax levels must not run ahead of available technology, but support its uptake.
“Mixed messages are being sent though the benefit-in-kind tax system and that is not healthy in terms of encouraging the ‘right’ choices to be made. The whole company car tax regime needs to be retuned, although its structure of being based on CO2 emissions is sound and easily understood.”
He added that fleet operators need to micro-manage drivers as plug-in hybrids increase in popularity, and claimed their benefits would quickly tail off if employees failed to use them properly.
“There is potentially a little time bomb waiting to go off if fleet managers do not wise up and expect the recommended combined mpg to be achieved without a concerted focus on encouraging drivers to frequently recharge their vehicles and run them as a zero-emission car as often as possible,” said Hardy. “Running [plug-in hybrids] on petrol/diesel should only be considered as a last resort. To do otherwise will have a major impact on whole-life operating costs – fuel costs will soar.”
Hardy’s comments came as new data revealed the UK led European sales growth with alternative-fuel vehicles during Q1 of 2015, up 64.2% compared with France’s 33.9% increase.
