New Insignia challenges whole life cost picture

Have you had a chance to digest the details of Vauxhall’s new Insignia?

They are worth a few moments of your time. But I’ll paraphrase for you: reduced prices (some £3k off the P11D price) in a revised and slimmed down range with CO2 emissions down to 99g/km.

Yes, you read that correctly – 99g/km. Astonishing.

Not so long ago we were marvelling at the ability of mainstream family hatchbacks to hit 99g/km.

But now we have this: a full-sized company car in the Mondeo/Passat class taking emissions down to 99g/km without the aid of hybridisation.

The 99g is available from a revised 2.0-litre diesel engine with power outputs of 120PS and 140PS. But there doesn’t seem to be any lack of drivability – there’s 300-350Nm torque available.

It suddenly makes the Insignia incredibly relevant to company car drivers that may have considered moving down a size in car to limit exposure to benefit in kind increases.

A Peugeot 308 5 Door 1.6 e-HDi Active 112 6-spd Stop and Start, with a P11D value of £18,810 has a benefit in kind of £3,386.

The new Vauxhall Insignia Design 2.0CDTi 16v (120PS) ecoFLEX Stop and Start, with a P11D value of £18,690 has a benefit in kind of £2,616.

That’s a huge saving, making the Insignia a compelling consideration for anyone looking at a new company car.

It’s a saving that’s also important to fleet managers, because it means the running costs for your fleet are reduced: there is less to pay for National Insurance Contributions because the benefit in kind is lower, and the whole life cost of the new Insignia is also dramatically reduced.

And it’s with Whole Life Costs that managers can make savings on their fleets.

We use Whole Life Costs all the time at Fleet Alliance. It is the only way to provide a clear picture of the total cost of a vehicle over the lease period – rather than just the monthly cost of the lease.

The new Vauxhall Insignia offers fleet managers significant savings: some £5,000 over the old Insignia and up to £3,500 against rivals in its sector, such as the Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Passat.

These are significant. And demonstrate the benefits of using Whole Life Cost evaluations. It’s all part of our Fleet 360 consultancy and support service to give you a better perspective on the right cars for your fleet.

And that perspective has just changed with the new Vauxhall Insignia.