SHOULD you consider a diesel for your next company car?

Good question. There has been so much anti-diesel sentiment, wrongly fermented by the government in particular, that the decision has become unhelpfully clouded.

Such misinformation has driven business drivers into petrol cars in many instances – and look what has happened: for the second successive year, UK new car fleet average CO2 have risen by 2.9% to 124.5g/km, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Yet, on average, a diesel car is 15-20% more efficient than a petrol equivalent: for businesses that means lower CO2 emissions and better fuel economy.

Which is exactly what you want for business drivers doing the miles on the motorways. And few are better than the new Audi A6 with its 2.0-litre diesel engine.

It’s a brilliantly refined executive car. The ride is so supple on this all-new saloon that it copes superbly with the cratered state of our roads – I can’t recall an A6 that rode as well as this.

But, more than anything else, the new Audi A6 gives the lie to the image of the dirty diesel: the Audi A6 is squeaky clean, according to independent tests conducted by Air Index.

Emissions tests reveal the A6 has been rated as A – the cleanest you can get: urban levels of NOx (the pollutant associated with breathing difficulties) were rated between 0-80g, the Audi using latest technology to remove harmful pollutants and improve the air quality in towns and cities.

So the A6 will be able to enter the forthcoming London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) without problem – and not cause further air issues for those that live and work in the capital.

And because the Audi is officially rated at a low 117g/km CO2 – remember, that’s for a large automatic executive with over 200PS – the A6 falls into the 28% tax band (even with the additional 4% surcharge for diesel company cars). This means benefit in kind starts from £179 a month.

And makes the Audi A6 a highly appealing company car for executives.

As well as a real business motoring clean machine.

Audi A6 40 TDI 204PS Sport S tronic

• Power – 204PS
• Torque – 400Nm
• Transmission – front-wheel drive, 7-speed S tronic automatic
• Engine – 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel, Euro6 with AdBlue
• Top speed – 152mph
• 0-62mph – 8.1s
• CO2 emissions – 117g/km
• Official mpg / Test mpg – 62.8mpg/56.6mpg
• Company car tax band 2017/18 – 28%