An overwhelming majority of fleets running vans will use the new online database of new LCV fuel economy and CO2 emissions to inform their next purchasing decision.

A Fleet News online poll found 92% of respondents will use the new service to influence their next van buying decision.

One fleet manager said the guide, which is a joint venture between the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), the Department for Transport and the Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders, will be a vital tool for van fleets.

“In the current marketplace it is imperative to ensure you take into consideration the whole-life cost of the vehicle,” said Paul Tate, commodity manager at Siemens.

Tate said he would use the database to bring Siemens’ commercial vehicles inline with the company’s aim to drive down the emissions across its fleet.

Northgate Vehicle Hire, which has a fleet of 65,000 vehicles, most of which are LCVs, also gave the database its seal of approval.

It already provided the data in “specific” proposals for customers, but Ross Clarkson, UK marketing director for Northgate, added: “Now the data is becoming more readily available and accepted, we will publish this information as part of our vehicle specification page.”

Nigel Underdown, head of transport advice at the Energy Saving Trust, hopes the database will incentivise manufacturers to make LCVs greener.

“The fleet market has come to rely on official CO2 figures for cars to guide vehicle acquisition policy and it’s great that van buyers now have access to similar data,” he said.

“This can only help to push manufacturers towards producing cleaner vans and encourage fleets to buy them.”

Volkswagen, winner of the Fleet Van ‘medium van’ category with the Transporter at last year’s awards, now also has the mantle of the highest emitting vehicle, according to the database.

Its Transporter V6 4Motion had a combined mpg of 20.3 and CO2 emissions of 331g/km.

Go to the van emissions database.