The Solihull-based company reports that CO2 levels on its contract hire fleet fell to an average of 109.43g/km in the first four months of this year – down 16% on the figure of 130.28g/km just over four years ago.

It’s a similar picture on the fleet of Car Salary Exchange (CSE), the company’s car benefit brand. Average carbon emissions in the first four months of this year were 103.86g/km, a fall of 10% from four years ago, when average emissions on the CSE fleet were 115.53g/km.

The firm said the fall in carbon emissions across both fleets has been led by a swing to lower carbon-emitting new vehicles on both the corporate and driver side of the choice spectrum.

This has been facilitated by an increase in the number of hybrid vehicles available from most of the major manufacturers, which has been a major factor in the fall in carbon emissions.

Chief executive Graham Hale said: “We are seeing CO2 levels fall across both our contract hire and salary sacrifice fleets, as clients and drivers alike understand the financial advantages of switching to models with as low carbon emissions as possible to keep tax liabilities in check.

“The Government has clearly signposted that this and future tax regimes will be linked to carbon emissions, with tax rises of 2-3% already announced for the next four years.

“The trend towards lower carbon emitters will therefore continue over time, and we fully expect more of our clients and our salary sacrifice drivers to continue to choose these ‘greener’ models to help keep their tax and National Insurance liabilities as low as possible.”