State subsidies for company cars top €32bn in UK and EU

UK alone spends 5.7bn and Germany 12bn but analysis finds subsidies often go towards most polluting fleet vehicles

UK and European governments give companies subsidies worth 32bn (29bn) a year towards buying cars, the vast majority of which are polluting diesel and petrol models, new analysis has found.

The UK subsidies were worth 5.7bn (5.2bn) to company car owners in 2019, according to the study by analysts Dataforce on behalf of Transport & Environment, a campaign group. Germany, the EU's largest car market, provided subsidies worth 12bn.