SUV preference costs fleets £447 per car each year, finds Vehicle Data Global

Vehicle Data Global has warned that the preference for larger cars, namely SUVs and crossovers, is costing fleets £447 per petrol car each year in additional fuel costs.

Vehicle Data Global said that average petrol car efficiency is back to where it was in 2006, due to a preference for larger and heavier vehicles.

Petrol car efficiency peaked at 55mpg in 2016, but is back down to 47mpg.

Diesel efficiency has declined further, to 43mpg, down from 2016’s peak of 64mpg.

However, the changes could be partially attributable to the switch to different testing standards, with the introduction of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), which took place between 2017 and 2019.

Vehicle Data Global found that this decline costs fleets £447 per year for a petrol car in additional fuel consumption, for a vehicle driving 20,000 miles.

The cost is worse still for diesel, at £1,188 per year.

Between 2006 and 2025, SUVs increased their share of registrations from 6.7% to 59.5%.