LONDON (Reuters) - Sales of gas-guzzling 4×4s slipped this year as buyers weighed up their environmental impact and the threat of punitive road taxes.

But the fall may be no more than a blip in a sector that has otherwise shown solid growth over the last decade.

“There is no doubt that environmental factors are rising up the agenda for new car buyers”, said Christopher Macgowan, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) which released car sales figures on Wednesday.

“Lower fuel consumption and emissions are now as important for many people as safety features and price,” he said in a statement.

The SMMT figures showed sales of the so-called Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) dipped by just over 9,500 during 2006, a drop of 5.5 percent, although half the fall was attributed to model changeovers of two favourites — the Honda CRV and the LandRover Freelander.

“The run-out of old models leads buyers to hold back, waiting for the new version,” said SMMT’s John Procter.

“It is not unusual to have a dip like this. It is just a coincidence that two of the best sellers were going through a model changeover at the same time.”

The fall in the SUV sector this November against November 2005 was just over 15 percent, but green campaigners should be wary about reading too much into that figure.

The underlying trend for these vehicles — dubbed “Chelsea tractors” by their critics in reference to the upmarket district of London which is home to many of them — is upwards.

In 2005, just over 187,000 4×4s were sold, representing 7.7 percent of the total market. Back in 1996 that figure was just 3.9 percent.

So far, punitive measures against SUV drivers — in the form of higher road tax — does not seem to be discouraging their popularity, although further raids on drivers’ wallets could start to have an impact.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone wants the drivers of the least environmentally friendly vehicles to face charges of up to 25 pounds a day to enter the capital’s central congestion zone, while the London borough of Richmond has proposed charging residents of gas-guzzlers up to 200 percent more to park outside their homes.

(this article was taken from reuters.co.uk)

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