Drivers of these popular cars face £230 charge to stay on road from October
Drivers of popular SUVs will be "disproportionately" impacted by a new £230 car tax charge. The RAC has accepted that the Government has ‘no option’ but to reverse the Tories’ 5p per litre cut in Fuel Duty in the Labour Party governmen Autumn Budget.
The comments follow the claim last month by chancellor Rachel Reeves that she had discovered a projected overspend of £22bn, during the current year in addition to the expected £86bn annual deficit predicted by the Office of Budget Responsibility.
Larger SUVs have fuel tanks around 89 litres meaning they face a £230 hike over the course of a year if they're filling up weekly. Majid Ismailzada, Marketing Director at GM Direct Hire, has warned motorists with “larger vehicles” will be among the hardest hit. Majid said: “Fuel duty increases will disproportionately affect drivers of larger vehicles like SUVs, and we encourage our customers to plan for this possibility in their budgets.”
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It is believed that SUVs are generally around 15-30 per cent “less fuel efficient” than passenger vehicles. The motoring organisation’s head of policy, Simon Williams, said: "We’ve reached the conclusion the chancellor has no option but to put Fuel Duty back up to 58p a litre in October’s Budget.
"She knows the 5p discount is losing the Treasury £2bn a year. She also knows drivers were overcharged by a staggering £1.6bn last year according to the Competition and Markets Authority’s recent report." He said: "We’d normally be against any increase in duty, but we’ve long been saying drivers haven’t been benefiting from the current discount due to much higher-than-average retailer margins."
Mr Williams also noted the ongoing loss of revenue to the Government from the take-up of electric vehicles (EVs). Carverse warned: “SUVs with bigger engines and heavier gross weights could be less fuel efficient than some hatchback cars, which is something to consider for those who drive a lot.”