New survey reveals two thirds of UK motorists would buy green for tax benefits
Sat 05 January 2008
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According to a survey conducted by car supermarket, Motorpoint, far more UK motorists are considering buying cars with better environmental credentials as a means of avoiding higher 'green' motoring taxes and charges.
The Motorpoint survey, carried out at the end of 2007 suggests that attitudes have changed since similar surveys carried out earlier last year. In March, a study by the AA revealed that four out of five UK drivers put making financial ends meet ahead of environmental concerns in their list of motoring priorities.
Motorpoint says that during 2007, plans for higher road tax, calls for a £2,000 ‘showroom tax’ and a tripling of the London congestion charge for vehicles with the worst emissions levels are just some of the pressures that have been brought to bear to influence buying decisions.
Motorpoint's operations director Paul Winfield said: “A lot of the feedback we get from customers suggests that they are increasingly putting a car’s green credentials higher up their lists of important features and benefits. We already include a windscreen sticker on cars in our showrooms with details of emissions levels. But there can be no doubt after our survey results that punishment by taxation has had a marked effect on driver opinion during 2007. "
“Nevertheless, in Britain today there are some 33 million drivers and almost 30 million cars. That means around 11 million drivers are still ready to pay the price for driving the car of their choice however polluting it may be.”
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