Two-thirds of the largest, most polluting sports utility vehicles (SUVs) sold in the UK are registered to urban households, according to new figures.
Campaigners claim this is due to car manufacturers using advertising to persuade people it is “normal” to use the vehicles with off-road features for shopping trips, rather than driving in rural conditions.
The analysis, commissioned by think tank New Weather Institute and climate charity Possible, found that the top three districts for large SUVs are the inner London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster.
One in three new private cars bought in these areas is a large SUV, according to the study of sales in 2019 and 2020.
Advertising campaigns focus on a romantic image of the SUV as the car of the great outdoors. Photograph: PA/handout
The stereotype of the Chelsea tractor, the derogatory term used to describe the tendency of the London middle classes to use 4x4 vehicles for the school run, is based on reality, according to new figures.
Promoted by carmakers and advertisers as a vehicle that takes you back to nature, new data shows that SUVs, which produce much greater CO2 emissions than most other cars, are most popular in affluent urban areas such as Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster.