toward greener cars
When it comes to encouraging the consumption of lower CO2
emitting cars, tax incentives are proving to be the most
effective.
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A new survey of car buying habits by Motorpoint
has found that two thirds of UK motorists would now buy a car with
better green credentials to avoid paying higher road tax.
Motorpoint also said this poll highlighted a major turnaround
from previous ones conducted earlier in 2007 which identified a
general unwillingness among car buyers to pay extra for CO2
-cutting technologies.
Motorpoint however, did not disclose the number of consumers it
polled.
“A lot of the feedback we get from customers suggests that they
are increasingly putting a car’s green credentials higher up their
lists of important features and benefits,” Motorpoint operations
director Paul Winfield said, adding that punishment by taxation has
had a marked effect on driver opinion in 2007.
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By GlobalDataIndeed, market surveys conducted as late as last October were
confirming the belief that carbon emissions remained a low priority
for car buyers. The 5th annual industry survey by the Society
of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) for instance,
reported that a car’s low emissions feature ranked sixth as a
motivating factor for consumers. This came behind price,
specification, running costs, performance and safety.
Similarly in March last year, AA revealed that four out of five
UK drivers put making financial ends meet ahead of environmental
concerns in their list of motoring priorities.
Since then plans for higher road tax, calls for a £2,000
showroom tax and a tripling of the London congestion charge for
vehicles with the worst emissions levels are just some of the
pressures that have been brought to bear to influence buying
decisions.
Around the same time, the government-commissioned King Review
identified a need to ‘develop a strong and rapidly-growing market
for low-emission. The review suggested government had a critical
part to play in introducing ‘carrot and stick’ incentives to
encourage people to buy environmentally friendly cars and to deter
them from buying models with higher carbon emissions.
