Lightways (Contractors) Ltd is one of the latest UK businesses to switch to Toyota hybrids for a greener and more tax-efficient vehicle fleet.
If that wasn't enough to put a smile on its directors' faces, the hand-over of the new vehicles at SDM Toyota in Falkirk was marked with an array of red noses for everyone involved – cars included – celebrating Toyota's nationwide fund-raising efforts for Comic Relief as an official partner to Red Nose Day.
The company, established in 1978, provides a wide range of road surfacing and repairs and carriageway and festive lighting services across Scotland from its headquarters in Larbert and additional depots in East Kilbride and Dalkeith. It has recently taken delivery of Auris, Auris Touring Sports and Prius+ models for use by its contracts managers and directors.
A company spokesman said: “As a business we are keen to demonstrate our environmental awareness and realised how we could do this in our company car fleet by changing to Toyota hybrids.
“As well as being a greener option, the new cars are practical for our transport requirements and also deliver attractive tax benefits. We also appreciate the good reputation Toyota hybrids have for reliability and being a comfortable drive when you have to cover long distances.
“We were also very impressed with the service we received from Tom Graham and the team at the SDM Toyota Business Centre and from Mark Smith, our Toyota Area Fleet Sales Manager.”
Lightways (Contractors) Ltd provides comprehensive services, principally to the public sector and utility businesses, including the reinstatement of all types of surface, street lighting installation and maintenance and the installation, repair and storage of festive lighting.
The British-built Auris and Auris Touring Sports hybrids are a popular choice for fleet and business customers, available with sub-100g/km CO2 emissions that secure annual road tax exemption (Vehicle Excise Duty) and attractive benefit-in-kind company car tax rates. Prius+ adds a further dimension to Toyota's hybrid range, a seven-seat compact MPV that uses advanced lithium-ion battery technology to provide the right amount of power from a more compact battery pack.
Each of these models can also operate for short distances in all-electric EV mode, cutting tailpipe emissions and fuel consumption to zero when, for example, travelling in slow-moving city traffic.