Opulence as standard on new Lexus LS600h L hybrid

2007 will go down as the year where UK new car buyers started to at least think about motoring in a ‘greener’ way.

With the on-going rise in fuel prices, vehicle road tax getting higher for the more CO2 a car emits and for those suffering congestion charging and higher parking permit charges, the green light would appear to be now burning brighter in the UK – or is it?

A very recent survey of 100 industry bosses in the UK undertaken for The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders by pollsters Ipsos-Mori dulls this green light.

The survey showed that consumers are still being driven by price when it comes to buying a new car, followed by specification and running costs. A vehicle’s CO2 emissions are only the sixth most important criteria.

So if the industry bosses are not too influenced by a vehicle’s emission levels, very surprising as you would expect them to be making sure their company car managers are buying cleaner and less tax costly models, who is fuelling the growth in alternatively fuelled vehicles such as hybrids?

It must be private and business user-chooser customers because sales of ‘alternatively fuelled’ vehicles in the UK, which include hybrids, grew by 68.2 per cent in the first 11 months of 2007 and the forecast from The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is they will amount to around 17,000 sales in total this year.

It might not sound many when we consider the UK’s new car market this year will be over 2.3 million vehicles. In 2006 UK sales of such vehicles totalled fewer than 10,000 units so the growth to an expected 17,000 registrations is significant.

There has also been a significant growth in diesel powered passenger cars this year which are around 20 per cent more fuel efficient than a petrol equivalent. Diesel car sales are 10.2 per cent and diesel cars are expected to account for over 40 per cent of all new cars sold this year in the UK.

Whilst petrol engines are likely to remain the overall best selling models in 2008, diesel units will go on increasing their market share as will hybrid models as more and more are added to the market.

Hybrids are seen as more economical to run, they emit less CO2 so in the UK they only incur a £15 annual road fund license charge. All hybrids are all currently free of the London Congestion Charge, but that will change in 2008 for those hybrids, such as Lexus models, emitting over 120g/km of CO2.

The majority of ‘alternatively fuelled vehicles’ are petrol/electric hybrids and the three major manufacturers are Toyota with their Prius five-door hatchback range, Lexus with their executive saloons and SUVs and Honda with their Civic IMA four-door saloon.

A small number of electric-powered vehicles, dual biofuel and LPG fuelled models also come into the ‘alternative fuel category’. In the future we can expect more manufacturers to offer hybrid and fuel-cell models and vehicles fuelled by Hydrogen are not too far away.

Toyota said this year that by the early 2010s their global sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid models would be one million vehicles a year.

In the UK Toyota launched their Prius five-door hatchback range in 2000 and by the end of September this year they had sold a total of 18,865 units. This year their UK sales target was 6,000 units but they are likely to end up selling at least 8,000 Prius models

Lexus, the luxury brand of Toyota, started selling hybrid models in the UK in 2005 and sales to date are 8,322 with prices ranging from £36,415 to £88,000 for their petrol/electric cars and SUVs. Lexus use hybrid power in a different way to Toyota and Honda.

Their petrol-electric hybrid system allows for creating more power and performance. Although Lexus models are currently exempt from the London Congestion Charge, if the proposed 120g/km limit is adopted for 2008 then Lexus owners will be paying a fee to enter the Capital as well.

Lexus hybrid models carry an annual road tax fee of £190 because of their higher CO2 emissions, even though they are classed as Alternative Fuel cars. This is £15 less than conventional luxury cars and SUVs with a CO2 output ranging from 186 to 225g/km.

Lexus Hybrid sales in the UK are over 3,500 units so far this year, which represents 28 per cent of all Lexus UK sales. Their best selling Hybrid model is the RX 400h which accounts for 80 per cent of RX 4x4 sales.

The GS 450h Hybrid executive sports saloon outsells it conventionally powered sister model and the LS 600h which went on sale in October in standard and long wheelbase limousine forms had an advanced order book filled for six months even though it is priced from £81,400 to £88,000.

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