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It’s
a very happy New Year for the fleet team at Vauxhall, with the highly
successful ecoFLEX low-emissions range of cars reporting record sales
for 2009.
Almost 12,300 new
ecoFLEX vehicles were registered to fleet customers across the UK, more
than twice as many as other UK competitors, representing 26 per cent of
Vauxhall’s fleet diesel sales and 9 per cent of the total 2009 Vauxhall
fleet sales.
The sub-119g/km
5-door Corsa 1.3 CDTi was the most popular vehicle for fleet specifiers
over the last 12 months, accounting for almost 40 per cent of ecoFLEX
sales and again proving to be nearly three times as popular as its
nearest competitor. The 5-door Astra estate and 5-door hatchback were
the second and third most requested, followed closely by the Insignia
5-door hatchback.
Paul Adler, Brand
Manager Vauxhall Fleet commented: “Vauxhall are committed to delivering
on the twin pillars of reducing CO2 emissions and improving
fuel economy to bring true savings to fleet decision makers and company
car drivers alike. The ecoFLEX range makes it easy for business car
buyers to be ‘green’ as well as save money. And with more Vauxhall
ecoFLEX models to come, we believe 2010 will see even greater growth.”
The Vauxhall
ecoFLEX range offers fleets considerable cost savings over the life of
the car. Some ecoFLEX models fall into Vehicle Excise Duty Band A,
meaning they attract £0 excise duty. The entire range qualifies for the
Capital Allowance regime, which allows fleet decision makers to write
down 20 per cent of the car's cost, and offset 100 per cent of the lease
payments against tax.
Indeed, the new
Corsa 1.3CDTi ecoFLEX (95PS) models and the New Astra 1.3CDTi ecoFLEX
(95PS) models offer CO2 emissions of less than 110g/km
qualifying for a 100 per cent writing down allowance. In fact, the new
Corsa 1.3 CDTi ecoFLEX (95PS) 3-dr model’s CO2 emissions have
dropped to just 98g/km, matching the best in class, and are complemented
by a combined fuel economy figure of 76.3mpg.
Savings on fuel
are another benefit with ecoFLEX, the Astra 5dr Hatchback and Insignia
5dr Hatchback models show on average between 11 and 12 per cent
improvement in combined fuel economy when compared to the standard
equivalent, which means that each vehicle is able to travel over 50
miles further on a single tank of fuel.
The ecoFLEX
models’ aim is to achieve lower emissions through a combination of
technical changes to each of the models. Ultra low rolling resistance
tyres, modified gearing, revised engine management fuel mapping and
aerodynamic changes each contribute to improving the fuel consumption,
with only a slight trade off in acceleration.
Vauxhall now
offers over 50 different ecoFLEX models to support businesses and
drivers, one of the largest ranges of environmental models in the UK.
The company has a team of fleet sales managers across the country who
have been trained specifically in promoting the benefits of the ecoFLEX
range to its customers.
Vauxhall has
created a microsite
www.vauxhall.co.uk/vx/microsite/ecoflex
dedicated to highlighting the benefits of ecoFLEX to its customers. It
features information on the environmental and cost-saving advantages as
well as a step-by-step guide for drivers to help reduce their
environmental impact through smarter driving techniques. The driving
style advice is taken directly from the Act On CO2 website
and can lead to an 8 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions as
well as saving up to a month’s worth of fuel per year.
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