Gas strengthened its position as road vehicle fuel – number of gas cars on Finnish roads almost doubled in 2018
The number of gas-fueled cars increased again in Finland. There were several factors behind gas being more commonly used as a fuel, such as willingness to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport and the highly popular campaign offering biogas at a fixed price. The scrapping incentive and support for gas car conversions introduced at the start of 2018 have also contributed towards the increase of gas-fueled cars in Finland. According to the latest estimates, there are around 6,700 gas-fueled vehicles on Finland’s roads.
The year 2018 saw a continuation of the huge increase in driving on gas. According to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), a total of 2,439 gas-fueled passenger cars were taken into use in Finland, with 1,161 of these being first registrations. This was a huge increase as car registrations almost doubled compared with 2017.
The most popular first-registered car makes were Skoda (555), Seat (298) and Audi (150). The most popular gas-fueled car models were Skoda Octavia (536), Seat Leon (150) and Seat Ibiza (104). According to the latest estimates, there are around 6,700 gas-fueled vehicles in Finland.
In 2018, a significant proportion of the gas-fueled cars were imported to Finland as used cars. As regards imported cars, the most popular makes were Volkswagen (664), Volvo (316) and Mercedes-Benz (94). Most of these were imported from Sweden (1,216), followed by Germany (34) and Czech Republic (16).
”The demand for gas cars is growing in Finland, and this is no wonder as gas has many advantages as a road vehicle fuel. It’s an inexpensive fuel. Our fixed price campaign offering biogas at a fixed monthly price has been highly popular. Gas cars are also competitive in terms of their purchase price compared with diesel and gasoline cars, and different gas car models are becoming increasingly available,” says Heidi Kuoppala, Sales Manager, Traffic, from Gasum.
Gas is seen as a clean fuel alternative also for heavy-duty road transport. In 2018, a record number of first registrations of new heavy-duty vehicles were made in Finland. The market development was affected by factors including new vehicle model launches by Iveco, Scania and Volvo. Gasum is developing the Nordic heavy-duty vehicle filling station network by investing in the construction of around 50 stations in Finland, Sweden and Norway by the beginning of the 2020s.
”The demand for both light and heavy-duty vehicles is growing in all segments, and we’re highly committed to the development of the road fuel gas market. This is demonstrated by the fact that the European Union granted Gasum support at €2.9 million for the construction of new gas filling stations. The Transport Climate Policy working group under the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications also highlighted biogas as a significant element of the solution for greenhouse gas emission cuts,” Kuoppala says.
Using gas-fueled vehicles helps enterprises to reduce their carbon footprint
Many enterprises took action to reduce their carbon footprint in 2018. Introducing gas-fueled vehicles in their logistics was an effective way for many organizations to cut carbon dioxide emissions. For example, the City of Vantaa facility and user services company Vantti started using four biogas-fueled vans as part of action to reach the ambitious carbon neutrality target set by the City. The grocery store chain Lidl and the dairy manufacturer Valio introduced goods deliveries with biogas-fueled trucks and participated in biogas production by transporting waste to biogas plants, while Finland’s leading postal and logistics service company Posti is already using 40 gas-fueled vehicles.
The continued increase in the number of gas vehicles in 2018 is proof of more and more private individuals as well as enterprises opting for gas vehicles.
For more information please contact:
Heidi Kuoppala, Sales Manager, Traffic, Gasum
Phone: +358 50 440 9793, firstname.surname(a)gasum.com
The energy company Gasum is a Nordic gas sector expert. Together with its partners, Gasum is building a bridge towards a carbon-neutral society on land and at sea. www.gasum.com.
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