Major CO2 and fuel economy benefits for Volvo automatics to benefit fleets
The company says the move underlines its commitment to ensuring that drivers of automatic cars can receive the same benefits as their manual counterparts.
The changes are effective immediately and see CO2 emissions for the new S80, V70, S60 and V60 D3 and D4 Geartronic versions drop to under 130g/km CO2 – a 4% improvement on the current BIK banding.
For a 20% tax payer driving a Volvo V60 D4 SE LUX Geartronic, this equates to £21 per month based on 2012/13 tax bandings. Employers also save on class 1A NIC contributions, which are also determined by CO2 emissions.
The changes have delivered an 11% emissions reduction on S60 D3/D4 Geartronic, which now produces just 126g/km CO2, (down from 142g/km) and returns 58.9mpg (52.3mpg on the previous production model). These improvements have helped reduce BIK from 22% to just 19% this year and to 20% for the upcoming 2013/2014 financial year.
Another model that benefits from the latest enhancements is the XC60 D4 FWD Geartronic. Fuel economy for this model rises to 47.1mpg from 41.5mpg and it now produces 159g/km CO2, a 19g/km CO2 improvement on the previous production model. The corresponding fall in BIK sees this vehicle drop from the 29% BIK banding to 25% for the current financial year and 26% for the 2013/2014 financial year.
Selwyn Cooper, Volvo Car UK national corporate operations manager, said: ‘We are committed to the company car driver and we are continuing to strive to improve CO2 at every level. Business drivers are more likely to opt for automatics and we don’t want them penalised by paying much higher BIK so we are doing everything we can to create vehicles that are kinder to the environment and hence, the pocket.’
The CO2 and fuel economy enhancements apply to vehicles built from 11th February, meaning that the vast majority of fleets with existing orders needn’t take any further action.
Volvo added that fleets looking for updated comparison information with other manufacturers, independently supplied by CAP, can visit the Volvo Comparison Tool on the business sales section of the Volvo Car UK website – www.volvocars.co.uk/business
Natalie Middleton
Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.
