CLAIMS that cheap fuel will see the return of big bore ‘gas guzzlers’ have been lambasted in a spate between the UK’s two most influential vehicle valuation experts.
Glass’s had suggested the low fuel prices are set to continue for some time and could see an increase in popularity of large litre motors
Rupert Pontin, Glass’s head of valuations, had said: “While no-one could call petrol and diesel prices exactly cheap, they are certainly falling to a level where some consumers won’t place fuel economy as high on their list of priorities as we have seen in recent years. Bigger engined cars are suddenly more viable.”
Now CAP Automotive has weighed into the debate claiming the suggestion is a “schoolboy error”.
It says high road tax for less efficient engines continues to outweigh any possible savings in fuel, despite pump prices falling to a five-year low.
Throw into the running costs mix typically higher insurance, service, maintenance and repair bills and motorists could pay a heavy price for being tempted to reconsider such cars.
CAP also brands the assumption that drivers naturally desire larger-engined and less economical cars, if only they could afford to run them, as “1970s thinking”.
Suggestions that sensible people will suddenly look afresh at gas guzzlers are misguided and potentially misleading
Crunching the running costs data for the ever-dwindling ranges of less fuel efficient cars available in the economy-conscious market of today, CAP found that the numbers for thirstier cars simply don’t stack up, owing to their higher CO2 emissions.
For example, a family tempted to switch out of a two-litre Vauxhall Insignia 16V Elite 5dr Auto and into a V6 version Vauxhall insignia 2.8T 4×4 Elite 5dr Auto this year would find themselves paying £215 more just for their road tax. That doesn’t even take into account around £300 more for fuel over 10,000 miles, even at today’s lower pump prices, compared with their previous car.
“Suggestions that sensible people will suddenly look afresh at gas guzzlers are misguided and potentially misleading,” said CAP’s retail and consumer expert Philip Nothard.
“Dealers could find themselves sitting on stock they can’t shift and any motorist taken in by the idea that less efficient cars are suddenly an attractive proposition again could find themselves locked into a long-term finance deal, then stuck with a car that they can’t sell at the end of it.
“The assumption that lower fuel prices will unlock pent-up demand for a return to some kind of golden age of gas guzzlers is thinking that belongs in the 1970s.
“Doubtless the odd ‘petrol head’ with a thirsty classic in the garage will be tempted to do a bit more driving while fuel is cheaper, but the suggestion that we are on the brink of a resurgence for less efficient cars is simply a schoolboy error.”
