Fleets that lease their cars are at the forefront of the drive towards getting lower emitting cars onto the roads.

Last year the average emissions from new cars put onto lease fleets was 144g/km – a drop of about 4% from the 149.9g/km reported for new cars added to fleets in 2008 and a fall of 9% on the 2007 figure.

This fall in average emissions highlights how far ahead fleets are in adopting cleaner vehicles compared to the wider new car market.

Average emissions from new cars sold to both fleet and private motorists were significantly higher at 149.5g/km.

While sales of new cars to fleets fell significantly last year – down over 20% at 980,695 vehicles – fleet sales still make up a massive proportion of new cars sales.

Last year, fleet sales accounted for 44.2% compared to 52.1% in 2008, but this is expected to rise again this year back to 50/50 split.

The latest figures, from the BVRLA’s leasing members who operate a combined fleet of around 1.6 million cars, highlights that not only are company fleets and their drivers willing to adopt cleaner cars, but that benefit-in-kind and company tax rules that reward both drivers and companies that use low-emitting vehicles and penalise those that use higher emitters are working.

“The tax system is really making the UK employer consider the type of cars they provide to their employees,” explains company car tax advisor Alastair Kendrick.

“This is particularly the case given the changes in the basis of claiming capital allowance for company cars in April 2009.

"With the initiative on CO2 emissions we are clearly going to see figures reduce significantly going forward on the renewal of existing company cars.

"It is likely that it will be another two to three years before those policy changes made by employers are introduced across the fleet.”

BVRLA chief executive, John Lewis however claimed that it is his members that are leading the way rather than reacting to demands of their fleet customers and the ever-greener cars emerging from the manufacturers’ plants.

“Our members continue to lead the way in lowering road transport emissions and disproving the myth that company cars are gas guzzlers,” he said.

“The government’s emissions-based tax regime has given fleets and their drivers a great incentive to drive cleaner cars and the message is clearly getting through.”

This is a view shared by Dan Rees, company car tax expert at Deloitte, who said: “We are certainly seeing more CO2 efficient cars being introduced onto our clients’ fleets.

"This is largely due to cost advantages derived from the tax system, introduction of emission caps and manufacturers making available attractive low emissions cars.”

While fleets are continuing to adopt lower emitting cars, their drivers are also covering fewer miles.

BVRLA’s leasing companies saw a 2% fall in the average contract mileage for cars added to fleets in 2009, down to 19,183 miles from the 19,617 seen in 2008.

However, the decline in average mileages has lost some of the momentum seen in earlier years, which is possibly as a result of some fleet vehicles being driven more in the recession thanks to reallocations.

“It is also clear with the significant costs of fuel that many employers are assessing the travel performed by employees and many are seeking to significantly reduce the extent of time spent on the road by employees,” added Kendrick.