WE ALL want to drive a decent car. That’s especially true of company car drivers aspiring to the best car their grade entitles them – or for SME owners, who want something that suitably reflects the success of their business.
Such desires – understandable though they are – must set business drivers at odds with low carbon cars, don’t they?
Not a bit of it. Low carbon cars, in fact, make very good business sense.
Low carbon cars are cheaper to run – fewer CO2 emissions means greater fuel economy, which reduces fuel costs. And let’s face it, what hardship is there in running anything from a MINI Cooper D (official fuel consumption 74.3mpg) to an executive Audi A6 (57.6mpg)? Not much in my books.
From the driver’s point of view, lower carbon means lower company car tax. Given the rising cost of living one way to boost your income is by reducing your monthly benefit in kind company car tax, thereby boosting your disposable income.
It’s simple to do – choose a low CO2 emission car. There’s a wide, wide range, from a Toyota Prius hybrid (89g/km) to something as swanky as a BMW 320d EfficientDynamics saloon (109g/km).
It would be a wise move: next tax year (2012/12) the company car taxation bands move to favour even lower CO2 emissions cars (you can see the latest tax tables here at http://www.businesscarmanager.co.uk/pages/LawTaxfull.asp?id=62 ).
Choosing a low carbon car doesn’t mean you need to drive a small car. It’s simply a smart decision. In the end, you pay out less for your motoring: whether that’s as a small business, or as a company car driver.
Simple.
By Ralph Morton, editor,
www.BusinessCarManager.co.uk
