New diesels can clean up urban areas

by Robin Roberts

Diesel still has an important role to play for many fleets despite calls for a scrappage scheme designed to improve air quality by removing older vehicles, says Arval.

The vehicle leasing and fleet management company believes that such initiatives can be very effective in removing old and inefficient vehicles, but there is a risk that all diesel vehicles become incorrectly perceived as inherently "dirty". This is despite newer models offering excellent efficiency and worthwhile environmental advantages.

David Nicholas, fleet consultant said, "There are no confirmed details available about a scrappage scheme but it is likely that it would only be aimed at the very oldest, most polluting diesel vehicles on our roads. This makes sense to us and is a move that we would support.

"What concerns us is the possibility that modern, Euro 6 diesels, that have a core role to play in the modern fleet mix and offer strong environmental credentials such as low CO₂, could somehow become perceived as undesirable.

"This would be limiting for fleets and actually make very little sense in operational terms. Certainly, none of the older vehicles that are likely to be included in a scrappage scheme would be found on fleets in anything but tiny numbers."