Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV retains green crown at Fleet Alliance

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV retains green crown at Fleet Alliance

Posted by

Fiona Irving

March 2019

The Mitsubishi Outlander plug in hybrid has retained its crown as the most popular green model on the Fleet Alliance fleet of 28,000 vehicles. The Outlander, which has average CO2 emissions of just 44g/km, was the most popular green model in 2017 and in terms of orders was again the most popular green model in 2018.

It remains to be seen whether this popularity remains throughout this year, following the Government’s highly criticised decision at the end of last October to abolish the Plug In Car Grant for plug in hybrids, including the Outlander.

The Outlander was followed by the Kia Niro, Kia’s first crossover hybrid, which has average CO2 emissions of 64g/km, and like the Outland is an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV). It too loses its financial support following the Government’s decision.

In third place was the Toyota C-HR hybrid which has a 1.8 litre automatic hybrid engine and average CO2 emissions of 88g/km, followed by the country’s most popular small car, the Ford Fiesta, with average CO2 emissions of 97g/km.

The Fleet Alliance green top ten for 2018

Make and model Avg CO2
Mitsubishi Outlander 44
Kia Niro 64
Toyota C-HR 88
Ford Fiesta 97
BMW 3-Series 100
Ford Focus 101
Renault Clio 105
Kia Ceed 109
Volkswagen Passat 109
BMW 5-Series 111

(Average CO2 emissions for top ten: 92.8g/km)

Top Ten green models ordered by BCH customers

However, there were different buying preferences between business and personal contract hire customers when it came to the most popular green models.

For business contract hire (BCH) customers, the Outlander was again in first place, although it did not even appear in the top ten green models ordered by personal contract hire (PCH) customers who opted instead of the Nissan Qashqai, which has CO2 emissions of 117g/km.

The second most popular green model for BCH customers was the Toyota C-HR hybrid (86g/km) and this was followed by the Volvo XC90 (91g/km) and the BMW 3-Series (95g/km).

Make and model Avg CO2
Mitsubishi Outlander 44
Toyota C-HR 86
Volvo XC90 91
BMW 3-Series 95
Ford Fiesta 97
Ford Focus 101
BMW 5-Series 104
Volkswagen Passat 109
Nissan Qashqai 109
Audi A4 110

(Average CO2 emissions for top ten: 94.3g/km)

Top Ten green models ordered by PCH customers

BCH customer preference contrasted quite sharply with PCH customers for whom carbon emissions did not appear to have such an impact on the purchasing decision, perhaps because they were not liable to Benefit-in-Kind taxation based on the car’s CO2 output.

 The average CO2emissions of the top ten green models ordered by PCH customers was therefore much higher at 131.5g/km.

The Nissan Qashqai in first place was followed by the Volvo S90 (122g/km), the BMW 5-Series (125g/km) and the Mercedes A-Class (126(g/km). See chart:

Make and model Avg CO2
Nissan Qashqai 117
Volvo S90 122
BMW 5-Series 125
Mercedes A-Class 126
Mercedes C-Class 129
Mercedes E-Class 133
BMW 2-Series 134
BMW 4-Series 142
Jaguar E Pace 144
Kia Sportage 144

(Average CO2 emissions for top ten: 131.5 g/km)

Fleet Alliance managing director Martin Brown said the make-up of the Fleet Alliance fleet arguably reflected a greater desire to go green and thus to keep BIK bills under control amongst business contract hire customers than those  on personal contracts.

“We are seeing a quite clear correlation between new cars ordered and BIK bills amongst our business contract hire customers,” he said.

“This does not apply to our personal contract hire customers as much and, as a result, average CO2 emissions are therefore much higher on our PCH fleet. This is a clear indication of the success of a tax policy which links tax to CO2 emissions, although it’s quite clear when tax is not involved  car buyers’ habits change somewhat.

Mr Brown continued: “Last year we saw the first-ever increase in average CO2 levels on our fleet due to a switch to petrol, which was most pronounced amongst our personal contract hire customers. Average CO2 emissions for our PCH customers went up from 127g/km in 2017 to 138g/km in 2018, a rise of 8.66%.

“Therefore the decision of the Government to abolish the Plug In Car Grants for plug in hybrids last autumn seems to make very little sense as it is no longer an attraction for this type of vehicle. Instead, more of our customers are opting for petrol-engined models which has led to a general across the board increase in CO2 emissions, which is a very frustrating development,” he said.


You also might like…

If you liked this article then check out our posts about similar topics

Chancellor cuts National Insurance, extends fuel duty freeze and fully expenses leased assets

In the last Budget before the General Election, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled a series of headline-grabbing initiative...

2024 will be the year of the EV with greater supply and lower prices, says Fleet Alliance

2024 will be the year that companies look to accelerate down the electrification route, as they seek to meet their own E...

Automotive transmission specialist Xtrac opts for EV salary sacrifice scheme from Fleet Alliance

Xtrac, the world’s leading supplier of high-performance transmissions for top level motorsport and high-performance au...

Fleet Alliance reports strong uptake in EV salary sacrifice

Increasing numbers of businesses are adding the employee benefit of leasing an EV through a salary sacrifice scheme to t...

Edwin James Group targets carbon reduction with electric vans from Fleet Alliance

Edwin James Group has taken delivery of its first electric vans from Glasgow-based fleet management specialist, Fleet Al...

IBMG halves its carbon footprint with Fleet Alliance

The Independent Builders Merchant Group (IBMG) has seen a reduction of more than 50% in the carbon footprint of its flee...

Fleet Alliance offers new tool to help businesses assess EV readiness

Fleet Alliance, the Glasgow-based leasing and fleet management specialist, has introduced a new solution to help busines...

Spring Budget brings a welcome cut to fuel duty

Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, brought some cheer for fleet operators when he confirmed that the 5p cut in fuel duty, announce...

Ready to make the management of your fleet more efficient?

Request a call back


Or Call Us On: 0345 601 8407
Schedule a call back