Van insurance customers must be allowed to continue running their older commercial vehicles in the present economic climate, an industry body has suggested.
The European Commission has put forward tough new rules that cut average carbon dioxide emissions from commercial vehicles, but the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has called on policy makers to alter the suggestions to make the targets more realistic.
Chief executive of the SMMT Paul Everitt argued that can insurance customers are currently undergoing "belt-tightening" due to the recession and "do not have the capacity to invest in new products".
He added that the commercial vehicle sector needs "reasonable targets" to help it cut carbon dioxide emissions.
Earlier this month, the SMMT confirmed that it expects 182,800 vans to be sold in the UK over the course of 2009, a year-on-year decline of 36.8 per cent.
It noted that the current market remains challenging, but predicted that stability will return over the next 12 months.
