THE company car driver in our picture looks rather pleased with himself. Smug even. Well, you would be, I guess, if you were driving a nice shiny new company car and paying less in company car tax.

There’s plenty of opportunity to do that now. As you can see in our stories here, there’s Hyundai’s Mondeo-challenging i40 with company car tax at 13%; the Audi supermini A1 at 10%; and the compact executive from Volvo at 13%. All good cars, and all with a focus on reducing the level of benefit in kind company car tax you pay.

But in 2012 the taxation system changes; and those cars that were in the lowest band will suddenly be several bands higher. It’s worth considering before you place that order for a new business car for your staff; or you choose your next company car. Going for the lowest CO2 possible will reduce the tax exposure. And reduce your fuel expenditure.

While drivers of SUVs or large execs will have passed the £100 fill up mark some time ago, it’s now a real possibility for company cars such as the Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Insignia – as our story on three figure fill ups investigates.

Finally, look out for our next issue with the special supplement on running your business cars more efficiently, including advice on telematics, sat-navs and fuel cards.

Ralph Morton – editor