Company cars reduce CO2 emissions by 17% in 7 years

Company cars are under siege. Nevertheless, not all of them are bad. Due to their frequent renewal, they reduce their CO2 emissions quicker than individually owned vehicles. The recent change to petrol from diesel has negatively influenced this tendency.

It’s HR services group Acerta that has published a study, analyzing the data from 40.000 employers they work with. In seven years the average CO2 emissions of company cars are reduced by 17%. They emit 6% less CO2 than the privately owned vehicles.

Important reduction

Between March 2012 and March 2019, the average CO2 emissions of company cars have decreased from 142,8 to 117,9 g/km. At the same time, the reduction for individually owned cars is far lower. Importers association Febiac gives 112 g/km on average for company cars in 2017, while it is 119,7 g/km for others.

The difference between the two figures is due to the recent change in preference from diesel to petrol cars. The popularity of diesel went down dramatically since 2017, resulting in a fairly dramatic increase in average emissions. That is because petrol cars on average still consume 15 to 20% more than diesel.

The main reason that company cars are reducing their emissions quicker is, of course, the renewal time. That’s even more so for leased vehicles because they are usually replaced every four years. The average replacement period for individually owned cars lies around ten years. Of course, it’s also important what happens with the cars after the leasing period.

Secondary remarks

Acerta is also making other remarks. The fact that company cars stay a minority in the entire car park and that the popularity of the company car is waning. Things like an alternative mobility budget are not important yet but are gaining in popularity.

Cars becoming more sustainable also has a cost for employers. During the measured period, the average price of a company car rose from 24.793 euros to 30.152 euros (+21,6%). This will not change when even more expensive electric cars and hybrids become more popular.

For employees with a company, car prices have been stable. For them, the lower CO2 emissions didn’t result in a higher price tag for their company-sponsored mobility. It all also depends on how they are going to react to other mobility propositions, like the mobility budget.

In the future

That the average CO2 emissions are diminishing is a good thing. That those of company cars are even more is even better. But the average is still a far cry from the limits set by the European authorities (95 g/km in 2021).

Manufacturers will have to sell far more electric and hybrid cars than now, but their price has to be lower then. The company car market (with higher average rates) can help here. Things like a mobility budget will surely have an impact too, but probably not so positively on car sales.

Les voitures de société ont réduit leurs émissions de CO2 de 17%