Have emissions put off UK Diesel Car buyers?

24th November 2017
diesel cars UK

With all the concern about diesel emissions, diesel scrappage schemes and even bans, it wouldn’t be surprising to find that UK drivers are avoiding diesel vehicles at all costs, however data from Cazana’s used vehicle database has shown that this is just not the case.

It seems that diesel vehicle owners are refusing to be put off by the continuing media speculation and negativity regarding diesel.

Many would have expected that there would be a huge increase in second hand diesel vehicle listings, and for UK roads to start filling up with electric vehicles. This is pretty much what was predicted, particularly following Volkswagen’s diesel-gate scandal and the announcement of plans for the introduction of diesel scrappage schemes by the UK government in May this year.

The Volkswagen emissions scandal of September 2015 initially raised concerns about the impact of diesel vehicles on NOx gas levels. This was followed by an investigation by the Department for Transport which found that thirty seven popular diesel cars exceeded the legal limit (the limit required by laboratory pollution test results when a vehicle is driven for 90 minutes on normal roads).

Top car manufacturers also put forward scrappage schemes in the wake of these findings, including Hyundai, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Vauxhall, followed shortly after by Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota, Nissan and later others.

It turns out though that listings for diesel vehicles have remained steadily below listings for petrol vehicles over the past eighteen months, except for a very brief blip when the government scrappage scheme plans were initially announced (the numbers fell again shortly afterwards).

Are alternative Fuel Cars the future?

On the other hand listings for used alternative fuel vehicles have increased. Cazana has indicated that there has been a flood of used hybrid petrol cars being added to the site. Pure electric and hybrid diesel used vehicles have stayed the same however.

It has been extensively speculated that plug-in hybrids are linked to high fuel consumption and emissions and this may have caused concern amongst alternative fuel car owners. Not everyone is convinced that they are the efficient and environmentally friendly alternative that the industry had initially anticipated.

The chief executive officer and founder of Cazana, Tom Wood, has indicated that he believes that the future of diesel in the United Kingdom isn’t yet certain and therefore drivers are not flocking to get rid of their used diesel vehicles and replace them with more sustainable options.

He says, “Hybrid petrol vehicle listings are growing, indicating that motorists are continuing to take baby steps towards the fully electric vehicle.

“Our data does not indicate that Britain’s roads will be saturated with electric vehicles in the next few years, nor does it show that motorists are in a panic to rid themselves of diesel vehicles.”