Trends

Latest data from leading vehicle auctions company, British Car Auctions (BCA), shows that average values for eco- and alternative fuelled cars continue to outperform the rest of the market.

Car manufacturers have cut average new car CO2 emissions by their biggest ever margin, reducing emissions by 3.8% over the first nine months of 2008. The average new car now emits just 158.6g/km, down from 164.9g/km at the end of 2007 and 16.4% down on the 189.8g/km base in 1997.

High fuel prices, the credit crunch and the economic slowdown have given motorists a break from congestion, with jams down 12 per cent on 2007, according to Trafficmaster and the RAC Foundation.

Values of larger, less fuel efficient cars continue to fall at above-average rates as growing numbers of UK motorists shift into smaller vehicles in an effort to lower their running costs.

Green cars are commanding higher second-hand prices than other cars, says reports from two separate car auction companies.

60% of Brits are going green in a bid to save future generations according to a new ‘ECO-nomics’ report commissioned by Saab.

We’re just as car dependent today as we were in the early 1990s according to a new research paper released by the RAC Foundation.
The study finds that those using public transport in the early 1990s are the only ones who have used it more since. People who have never used a bus have not been persuaded to give it a go. The number of people driving a car has risen steadily over this time and the number of frequent car drivers is also on the increase.

Honda reports that sales of hybrid cars in the UK have doubled in the last 12 months – making cleaner cars the fastest growing sector in the industry.

In 1998, all European car makers voluntarily agreed to reduce the fleet average of CO2 emissions to 140 g/km by 2008 and 120 g/km by 2012.

Research by the Energy Saving Trust has concluded that graduated VED (car tax) may be more effective at influencing a shift to lower CO2 cars than previously thought.