New Vauxhall cars to hit green targets
Vauxhall is closing in on meeting tough green criteria for its new cars thanks to a range of more efficient cars launched in 2011.
The car maker, which builds the Astra hatchback and Astra Sports Tourer in the UK, saw an improvement in the average CO2 emissions across its new car range of four per cent.
CO2 emissions are increasingly important not least because the lower the CO2 emissions, the lower the running costs for the driver.
CO2 is used to determine a car's road tax level and any cars with emissions under 100g/km will fall into Band A - and subsequently have to pay zero road tax.
The EU wants all car makers to offer 130g/km on average across its car range by 2013 and Vauxhall is not just 6g/km off achieving the target.
Models such as the sub-100g/km Vauxhall Corsa Ecoflex and Vauxhall Astra Ecoflex, two frugal diesel options, have helped Vauxhall achieve the lower emissions figures over 2011.
In 2012 it is expected to drop further because of the launch of the Vauxhall Ampera extended range electric vehicle.
With CO2 emissions as low as 40g/km, the five-door hatchback is expected to push Vauxhall below the 130g/km mark and avoid hefty fines.
While the Ampera achieves the impressive figure by matching electric power with a petrol range extender to deliver a 350 miles range and fuel economy over 100mpg.
The Vauxhall range will be extended with another low-CO2 model, the small Renault Junior city car. Sitting below the Renault Clio, the small Junior will offer low emissions when it arrives in 2013.