4x4 sales suffer from green agenda

A climate of increasing concern for the environment and the prospect of higher taxes for gas-guzzling vehicles has caused sales of 4x4s to fall by 15 per cent over the past year, with the number of vehicles purchased dropping by six per cent in 2006 alone.

The tide appears to be turning against off-roaders: it was recently announced that vehicles in tax band G would be forced to pay £25 for the congestion charge in the capital; and in London's Richmond-upon-Thames the council proposed that high-polluting vehicles would pay three times the normal rate for a resident's parking permit.

Sian Berry, principle speaker of the Green Party, said that she was "delighted" with the news.

"A lot of people are increasingly thinking about their effect on climate change and making more responsible choices, thanks to campaigns like ours and the work of forward-thinking politicians like the Greens on the London Assembly," she explained.

But she added that the party's campaign against the vehicles would not stop here.

"Sales of urban 4x4s this year may be down but they are still double the rate a decade ago and there are still plenty of drivers we need to reach," she said.

In his pre-budget report yesterday (December 6th) Gordon Brown increased fuel tax by 1.25 pence per litre.