BMW and MINI’s market positions as the number one premium cars within their segments in London were strengthened with the Mayor of London’s announcement of a new charging structure for entering the capital in a car.

New legislation that comes into effect in October means drivers of vehicles emitting less than 120g/km will be Congestion Charge exempt. Drivers of cars emitting between 120g/km and 225g/km will continue to pay the standard £8 a day fee, while those driving vehicles that record more than 225g/km will pay an increased daily charge of £25.

The change in charging structure means BMW and MINI owners will be financially better off than owners of other prestige cars. All MINIs and most BMWs will remain within the £8 threshold, but there was further good news for many BMW and MINI owners. The new BMW 118d, the MINI Cooper D and the MINI Clubman D all fall into the new sub 120g/km Congestion Charge free bracket. This means that from October 2008 an owner of one of these models will save £2,040 a year driving in the capital compared to owners of non-exempt rival products.

The MINI Cooper D is currently BMW Group’s most fuel-efficient car recording 72.4mpg on the combined cycle and CO2 emissions of just 104g/km. The MINI Cooper D Clubman nearly matches these statistics recording 68.9mpg and 109g/km. Both cars are Band B in relation to Vehicle Excise Duty tiers and cost just £35 a year to tax.

Both vehicles employ technologies such as Brake Energy Regeneration, Auto Start-Stop and Electric Power Steering under the EfficientDynamics banner to help cut fuel bills and emissions. An optimum gearshift change indicator is included to encourage economical motoring. These innovations are in addition to high-precision direct injection engines on some models that further aid engine performance.

Independent research* has revealed that BMW is the manufacturer which cut its UK new car CO2 emissions the most between 2006 and 2007. Figures show that BMW and MINI together managed to slash CO2 emissions by 48,496 tonnes in a 12-month period following the widespread introduction of EfficientDynamics measures on its cars.

To calculate the figures researchers took the average CO2 of each manufacturers’ models offered between 2006 and 2007 then multiplied that number by the number of cars sold. The resulting figure was then multiplied by an average annual mileage of 10,000 miles per car to calculate the overall CO2 figures and the savings.

In stark contrast to the efforts of the BMW Group some rival manufacturers actually increased their CO2 output during the same period.

*Autocar, 6th February, 2008

Date added: 01-May-08

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