OREANDA-NEWS. October 09, 2013. At the Tartu Motoshow SEB Liising will partner with car dealers to conduct test drives in order to compare the fuel consumption rates advertised by manufacturers with actual rates.

The show’s test ride area features 50 cars, 11 of them chosen by the sellers to showcase their ecological models. Based on the completion of a 11.5-kilometre circuit combining travel in the city and on the highway, the mean fuel consumption rate will be used to select the most efficient car from amongst the various car makes and models tested.

“As fuel prices have risen significantly, we have noticed a trend where consumers’ interest in economical cars is constantly growing. A greener car contributes to the conservation of the environment while generating significant savings. According to SEB’s analysis, when compared to a regular car, a greener car will save more than EUR 1,000 per year in fuel, insurance and leasing payments. Over a period of four years, this might result in savings equal to a quarter of the purchase cost of the car,” noted Ainar Leppanen, Head of SEB Liising.

Here is an example: the owner of a car drives an average of 30,000 km each year (about 2,500 km per month), while today they have a passenger vehicle which is over 6 years old, with an average fuel consumption (motorway + city driving) of 9 litres / 100 km. Today, it takes 225 litres of fuel to travel 2,500 km which, provided that fuel costs EUR 1.35 per litre, would amount to EUR 304 each month.

When we compare these figures to a new, more economical car – let’s say a Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI 77kw, winner of last year’s test, with a factory average fuel consumption of 3.8 l/100 km.

It would take 95 litres of fuel to travel 2,500 km which, provided that fuel costs EUR 1.35 per litre, would amount to EUR 128 each month.

SEB Liising has a special offer for their private customers – a discount “green lease” for new cars with CO2-emissions under 130g/km. The most popular among these ecological cars have so far been Skoda, Kia, Volkswagen and Hyundai.

SEB is also guided by an environmentally friendly way of thinking when selecting its own company cars. All new SEB company cars must have an emission level below 130g/km.