Green vehicles soar in popularity among new car buyers

Date: 6/5/2011

Green cars have risen in popularity among new car customers, according to figures published today (May 6th).

Numbers released by motor industry group SMMT showed that registrations of new cars are up despite continuing turbulence within the new vehicle sector, with registrations of alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) up by more than 48 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

Overall, 1,986 new AFVs were registered in April, a rise from less than 1,350 in the same month in 2010.

The market for new vehicle registrations was 1.5 per cent higher than predicted figures and the bestselling motor for April was the Ford Fiesta, with some 6,755 models sold.

Meanwhile, recent figures from the Department for Transport showed that in 2010 there was more than double the number of green cars on the road in the UK compared with 2009.

The figures showed that last year, the total number of cars with the lowest VED band - reserved for cars with emissions of less than 100g of CO2 per kilometre - stood at 57,000.