Vauxhall has topped and tailed its new Insignia range with a low-emission version and a high-performance VXR derivative.

While the 325bhp, four-wheel drive VXR version is unlikely to find much favour in a conventional fleet, the Ecoflex model certainly will.

Based on the existing 2.0-litre CDTi 160bhp diesel model, the Ecoflex uses aerodynamic tweaks, low rolling resistance tyres and revised gearbox ratios to bring CO2 emissions down from 154g/km to 136g/km – placing it in the 18% benefit-in-kind tax band for diesels.

Combined fuel economy is a claimed 54.7mpg, up from 48.7mpg for the conventional CDTi 160 models, which Vauxhall says gives the Ecoflex a range of more than 840 miles on a tank of diesel.

The VED rate drops from £145 a year to £120.

Service intervals remain at the standard 20,000 miles or one year.

To help drivers achieve the headline economy figures, a dashboard change-up indicator is included which prompts drivers on the optimal gear change point to ensure maximum efficiency.

The Ecoflex version are on sale now in both saloon and hatchback bodystyles, and in all trim levels bar SRi. Prices start at £19,600 for the fleet-specific Exclusiv specification.

Vauxhall is marketing the Ecoflex as ‘one of the quickest green derivatives in its class’, backed up by the headline 160bhp power figure – considerably more than the 110bhp offered in Volkswagen’s Passat BlueMotion 2 and the 125bhp Ford Mondeo Econetic.

The Insignia also has an overboost facility for quicker overtaking, which increases torque from 258lb-ft to 280.