Bullying British drivers
A survey by http://www.swiftcover.com, the UK’s only fully online insurance company, say that British motorist’s feel that they’re being bullied by the government into buying greener cars.
57 per cent of the people surveyed said they were being forced into considering a lower emission car because of the new proposed ’showroom tax’, another new stealth tax that we’ll here the announcement on in today’s budget in the next hour or so. 68 per cent of people said their decision when buying a new car buying a new carwould be influenced by this proposed new tax.
The research also found that the lack of environmentally friendly cars on offer also put people off when it came to buying. Just 17 per cent of people said they’d found a low emissions car that they’d actually like to buy or met their family’s needs. Almost all people in the poll agreed that lower emission cars are the future of motoring and must be considered when buying a new car. 75 per cent agreed that the government is penalising drivers rather than introducing positive incentives to buy green cars. That’s exactly what I said just yesterday in my pre-budget post http://www.thefinancialblog.co.uk/the-budget-2008 “It’s just a shame the government are intent on pricing everyone else off the road with extortionate fuel prices. I wouldn’t mind so much if public transport was actually any good!”
This is what the drivers if the poll want;
47 per cent said a wider choice of green cars is needed
23 per cent said the government should put pressure on manufacturers to develop greener cars
21 per cent thought tax incentives or government subsidies should be offered
4 per cent opted for an amnesty to remove older cars from the road
Underwriting director of Swiftcover.com, Craig Staniland, said: “While environmentally friendly and alternative fuel cars are the future, British drivers have yet to fully embrace green motoring. As a car insurance company, we incentivise drivers of hybrid cars with a 10% discount; however, more is needed to help drivers make the transition.”