According to industry speculation, cars emitting 85g/km and under will be exempt from road tax from 2016 - a significant reduction from the current threshold of 99g/km.
Currently cars emitting less than 100g/km do not pay road tax - part of an effort by central governments to drive down fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in passenger cars to 95g/km by 2020 - but with the amount of cars that are exempt from road tax rising, revenues from road tax are falling
Get a FREE quote on your next FORD FIESTA
Click below and save up to 30% on a new FORD FIESTA
Bringing in a new lower limit will mean less cars are exempt from road tax - and the government will hope that manufacturers are forced to further reduce CO2 emissions in an effort to sell more road-tax exempt cars.
For many volume manufacturers, like Ford, road tax exemption is a big selling point on smaller cars such as the Fiesta supermini and for manufacturers like Toyota with the petrol-electric hybrid Prius.
The Ford Fiesta has become renowned for its low emissions which are achieved via its Econetic engine, which is part of its frugal eco-signature range.
Although the Ford Fiesta Econetic has low emissions of 87g/km, it still fails to make the 85g/km crunch, meaning it will have to pay road tax.