FLEET Alliance has seen carbon levels fall to a tax-saving all-time low of 119g/km per vehicle for all new cars ordered in 2015, as corporate customers increasingly specify green models.

Last year, one in five of all new cars ordered across the 18,400-strong Fleet Alliance vehicle fleet were sub-100g/km of CO2, compared with 16% in 2014. At the same time, 77% of the fleet had CO2 figures of less than 130g/km, compared to 71% at the end of 2014, as companies increasingly turned to low carbon emitting vehicles.

In a league table of the cleanest cars, the top 10 models on the company fleet all had carbon emissions of 100g/km or less.

The greenest car on the Fleet Alliance fleet in 2015 with emissions of just 48g/km was the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, now officially the UK’s most popular ULEV (ultra-low emission vehicle). Last year saw 11,681 Outlanders sold in the UK, a growth rate of 118% over 2014.

The next most carbon efficient model was the Lexus CT Hybrid, with carbon emissions of just 82g/km, which the company now includes on its own company car policy to encourage employees to consider greener alternatives.

In third and fourth places in the green stakes were two Peugeot models: the 208 with emissions of 93g/km and the 308 with emissions of 94g/km.

The Skoda Fabia also had emissions of 94g/km, followed by the Audi A1 with 95g/km and the Toyota Auris with 97g/km.

The Honda Civic and the Volvo V40, meanwhile, both had emissions of 98gm/km, while the Hyundai i30 and the Mercedes C-Class had emissions of 100g/km to complete the top ten.

During the last 12-18 months, Fleet Alliance has been continually advising fleet clients of the importance of setting fleet policies that encourage the take-up of low carbon-emitting cars to capitalise on savings in tax, National Insurance and fuel costs.

To reinforce the message, the company has also introduced a number of new green initiatives including an EV awareness programme, which included adding two new examples of the world’s best-selling electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf, to the Fleet Alliance fleet for testing and review purposes

The top 10 Fleet Alliance green league table for 2015, based on CO2 emissions, was as follows:

In terms of volume best sellers, regardless of CO2 emissions, on the fleet in 2015, the Audi A3 was again the number one in the Fleet Alliance best selling charts, followed by stablemate the Volkswagen Passat, and the Ford Mondeo.

In fourth place was the Kia Sportage, followed by the VW Golf, and the nation’s best selling SUV, the Nissan Qashqai in sixth place.

In seventh place was the SEAT Leon, followed by the Vauxhall’s flagship Insignia and, in ninth and tenth places, two luxury class models, the Land Rover Evoque and the Audi A6.

Fleet Alliance managing director Martin Brown commented: “Carbon emissions are falling across our entire fleet and last year as a whole they fell to an average of 119g/km, the lowest we have seen so far.

“We expect this to fall further in 2016 as more clients switch to greener cars, not only cutting their carbon footprints but reducing their tax and fuel bills, too.

“At the same time, we are seeing many more new green models coming through from the vehicle manufacturers with ever-lower carbon emissions across all popular model ranges.

“The fact that the cleanest two models on our fleet are both hybrids is in line with the national trend which has seen uptake of hybrid vehicles grow at a staggering rate in the last 12 months,” he said.

 Mr Brown continued: “In terms of the volume sellers, Audi still remains desirable for user-choosers with their low carbon emissions and smaller tax charges. So it was of little surprise that the number one car on our fleet in 2015 was the Audi A3.

“In fact, despite the much-publicised emissions issue, Volkswagen Group had three models in our top ten with the Passat and Golf in second and fifth places respectively, as well as the A3 at number one.

“There was another strong performance from Kia, who are now producing low carbon-emitting, models ideal for today’s fleet market, while the best-selling Nissan Qashqai also featured at number six, reflecting the strong current demand for SUVs.

“The success of models like the Vauxhall Insignia, the Land Rover Evoque and the Audi A6, on the other hand, reflects the number of new customers we have taken on in the mid-size corporate market in the last 12 months,” he added.