BRENTWOOD, Essex, May 7, 2009 – Ford's latest low carbon cars are leading the industry at reducing CO2 levels according to environmental website Clean Green Cars.
Clean Green Cars analysed latest CO2 data for this year's new car sales in the UK and found that Ford was best at reducing CO2 output – which is directly linked to improved fuel consumption.
The news is thanks to Ford's newest fuel-efficient models, the Fiesta and Ka, which together increased their share of the new car market by two percentage points in January to March over the same 2008 period.
Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, on sale in January, became the UK's greenest family car according to Clean Green Cars (www.cleangreencars.co.uk), with emissions of 98g/km (equivalent to 76.3mpg) exempting the car from road tax. The new Ford Ka range delivers low CO2 output from 112g/km (67.3mpg).
The number of new Ford cars sold in the first quarter of this year will emit 10,000 fewer tonnes of CO2 on an annualised basis. This was calculated using the blue oval's average improvement of 9.6g CO2/km multiplied by average annual UK mileage and then by the number of Fords sold in the period.
Jay Nagley, Clean Green Cars publisher, said: "New car carbon dioxide emissions are falling at an unprecedented rate and Ford is more than playing its part. Until last year, car CO2 output had been falling at less than two per cent a year. Now real gains are being made with advanced technology, as demonstrated by Ford's ECOnetic range, offering ground-breaking levels of fuel economy and CO2."
Nigel Sharp, Ford Britain managing director, said: "Clean Green Cars' analysis, based on the actual cars being bought, shows what is being achieved rather than what could be done by cars which may not be available, desirable or affordable. Ford continues to offer vehicles relevant to customer and environmental needs."
# # #
Note: Economy figures quoted are in UK mpg, are based on the European Fuel Economy Directive EU 80/1268/EEC and will differ from fuel economy drive cycle results in other regions of the world.
