Consumers urged to support green car initiative

Since launching South Africa's first green vehicle finance programme four years ago, Absa's Vehicle and Asset Finance division has assisted more than 7,000 motorists to buy environmentally friendly vehicles with substantially lower carbon outputs than standard models.

"While the numbers were small initially, we are seeing rising interest among motor vehicle customers who are interested in green vehicles as a way to help fight climate change," says Wessel Steffens, head of Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance.

The motor industry is a heavy contributor to South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions. According to government estimates, the industry is the third-largest contributor to air pollution in the country and accounts for approximately 20% of emissions.

Choice became important

"With thousands of new drivers coming onto the roads each year, joining the millions of vehicles already in circulation, motorists' choices of vehicle purchases are becoming increasingly important," Steffens says. "For South Africans concerned about environmental sustainability, green vehicles are clearly the way to go."

To assist customers who are in the market for a new car to make an environmentally friendly choice, Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance became the first auto financier to offer green vehicle finance in August 2011.

It offers customers contemplating a low-carbon car two attractive incentives: a discounted interest rate on passenger cars that emit carbon outputs of less than 120g/km and Absa's commitment to plant a tree on behalf of each customer at no additional charges to them.

"Trees are the lungs of our planet and planting more trees is one of the most effective ways to combat climate change," Steffens says. "Our tree-planting programme, based on our green vehicle financing initiative and focusing on communities in need, has grown into one of the largest in South Africa."

Trees already planted

So far, a total of 7,079 green vehicles have been financed and, by December 2014, Food & Trees for Africa had planted 5,689 trees on behalf of Absa's green vehicle finance customers. Another 4,891 trees are expected to be planted during 2015 on behalf of existing and new green car customers.

Some 2,426 of these trees were planted in the last week of October 2015 in the communities of Khutsong in Gauteng and Ntuzuma in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as at schools and households in the Western Cape.

"By the end of this year, we anticipate a steady growth in the numbers of customers who will make use of our green vehicle finance programme - as customers move towards financing eco-friendly cars," Steffens says. "This will result in a corresponding increase in the number of trees we plant."