Budget reinforces benefits of salary sacrifice
In April 2013 the BiK tax bands shifted again, with a one percentage point increase for cars emitting 95g/km CO2 and above. As of May 2013, average emissions for cars ordered through Zenith’s salary sacrifice car schemes have now fallen to 106g/km but are dropping at a slower rate than in 2012. A total of 46% of vehicles ordered since April have CO2 emissions of less than 100g/km, whilst 44% of vehicles ordered have emissions between 100-119g/km and the remaining 10% are 120g/km or higher.
Diesel is still by far the most popular option for sub-100g/km cars, providing the biggest choice of models available below this emission band and with prices starting lower than for hybrids. Out of Zenith’s salary sacrifice cars currently on order, 68.5% are diesels and 2.5% are alternative fuel. Petrol vehicles continue to grow in popularity with a seven percentage point increase in proportion of orders since the start of the year, to 29%. Petrol cars with emissions of 99g/km such as the Ford Fiesta, Kia Picanto and Peugeot 208 are driving this increase.
Ian Hughes, Zenith’s commercial director, commented: ‘It is interesting to see that although sub-100g/km cars are the most popular, and there are many to choose from in that category, a significant number of drivers are still selecting vehicles above that threshold. They are still able to save money on the slightly higher emitting cars while also benefiting from the all-inclusive package, fixed costs, a hassle-free service and potentially lower fuel costs than in their previous car. As we expected, petrol cars are increasing in popularity and taking market share from diesel models.’