SUV cars targeted by experts as ‘worrying’ parking trend grows across UK
Motoring experts have urged politicians to look into major concerns around SUVs with parking worries one of the biggest concerns.
SUV rule changes should be looked at by the winner of this summer’s General Election due to a new “worrying trend”, according to a leasing motoring pressure group.
Transport & Environment has called out the growth of the petrol and diesel SUV market with sales soaring in the UK and abroad.
However, there are concerns that parking spaces may not be big enough for the heavy machines which may need to be addressed.
T&E mentioned the issue in their latest 2024 General Election Transport Briefing with less than a month to go until polling day.
The group explained: “Although EVs are cutting emissions, the benefits are being reduced because new petrol and diesel cars’ emissions are going up.
“This is caused by the growth of the sports utility vehicle (SUV). T&E identified the worrying trend of cars growing wider across Europe and the UK is no exception.”
The study found that over half of new cars produced in 2023 were too wide for the minimum on-street parking space of 180cm.
The report revealed many manufacturers were building new models around 1cm wider every year.
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T&E previously warned that all new cars in the UK are subject to the same width restrictions (255cm), as buses and trucks.
They suggested that unless the width limit is immediately looked at, large SUVs and pick-ups may “continue to expand to the cap meant for heavy-duty vehicles”.
Alongside parking, T&E has suggested that purchase tax rates for new SUV models also need to be looked into by whoever is successful in July.
T&E added: “SUV sales in the UK are some of the highest in Europe.
“ 60 percent of all new car sales in the UK in 2023 were SUVs and the UK has much lower SUV purchase tax rates than other countries in Europe which have much lower new registrations from such cars.”
