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The Vauxhall Astra is top of the company car heap

THE Vauxhall Astra has returned to the top of the UK's most wanted company cars list in 2007 for the first time since 2001.

And the CO2-based taxation system is being held responsible for the trend in company car downsizing.

New figures from Lex, the UK's largest contract hire provider of company cars and vans, show that the Astra was the most popular car on the company's fleet, with 273,503 vehicles hired, followed by last year's most popular vehicle, the Ford Focus in second and the Vauxhall Vectra in third.

Diesel-engined models continued to prove popular with company car drivers, too.

A huge 80 per cent of vehicles hired out by Lex were diesel variants, and the company predicts that figure will rise in 2008.

The best improvement came from the Audi A3, while the Volkswagen Golf saw the worst performance, suffering the largest fall - from first place in 2005 to a disappointing ninth in 2007.

Steve Jones, Lex pricing manager, said: "The Government's move to a CO2-based benefit-in-kind tax system has certainly helped encourage company motorists to downsize their choice of car.

"And with different versions of the same car being launched by manufacturers, company motorists have got a wider choice than they have ever had before."

The company car mainstays continued to dominate, however, with Vauxhall, Ford and VW holding seven of the top 10 positions.

Most desired company cars in 2007

• Vauxhall Astra
• Ford Focus
• Vauxhall Vectra
• Audi A3
• Ford Mondeo
• Honda Civic
• Ford Fiesta
• BMW 3 series
• VW Golf
• VW Passat

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