Lobbyists are urging UK national sales companies to reconsider importing LPG variants of new cars while consumers are aware of the emissions issue.

In mainland Europe, more than 17 vehicle manufacturers offer autogas LPG powered models directly from their showrooms. However no vehicle manufacturers currently offer LPG variants within their UK range.

“For some time we’ve been calling upon vehicle manufacturers to offer UK motorists the same level of choice as those in mainland Europe with the re-introduction of LPG variants into their range,” said Linda Gomersall, general manager at Autogas.

“It’s clear from the latest revelations about the emissions that UK businesses and individuals want a credible, cleaner alternative immediately.

“LPG is a proven, cleaner solution with an established refuelling and servicing infrastructure already in place. We simply need vehicle manufacturers to make LPG ready cars available in the UK and together we can help make a significant improvement to the UK’s air quality.”

Autogas says cars running on autogas LPG emit 80% less NO2 emissions and 98% fewer particulates than diesels.

The environmental credentials of autogas LPG have been proven in a series of independent laboratory and real-world tests, it said, citing a study by Dr Eric Johnson of Atlantic Consulting across nearly 9,000 cars and vans between 2011-13 which showed that autogas LPG offered significantly greater environmental benefits than the other fuel types under consideration which included diesel, petrol and CNG.

The 150,000 motorists in the UK who currently use LPG currently benefit from average prices of just 54.7 pence per litre compared to 109.38 pence per litre for diesel.

“The LPG solution is cleaner, proven and readily available so we’d urge car makers to make them available at their earliest opportunity,” said Gomersall.