Drop in sales signals end of the road for the Chelsea tractor

Critics have denounced them as vulgar, obese, thirsty and flatulent. And now Britain's love affair with gas-guzzling 4x4 cars may be finally evaporating in a cloud of fumes. For the first time since the so-called "Chelsea tractors" emerged as the vehicle of choice for footballers' wives and parents anxious to cut a dash on the school run, sales have dipped.

A total of 105,196 new "off-roaders" were sold in the first seven months of 2006, compared with 106,732 in January-July 2005. The slowdown in sales of the "sports utility vehicles", as they are also known, is being touted by green activists as the first sign that their campaign against the vehicles has begun to pay off.

The 4x4s have contributed more than their fair share to the clouds of carbon gases which hang over city centres and motorways. Opponents add that they are especially dangerous to any pedestrian hit by them. Many lack "crumple zones" to minimise impact.

Supporters see them as stylish and especially safe for those who ride in them - hence the school run. They assert that the vehicles' detractors are both politically correct and envious.

Ken Hurst, editorial director of The Manufacturer magazine, who has been monitoring the figures, said there were definite signs that their popularity was on the wane. Sales had been rising for years and this was the first dip, he said. Petrol prices had risen and some motorists had been put off by talk of big rises in vehicle excise duty.

Mr Hurst also ventured to suggest that 4x4s might be going out of fashion. "Possibly children who once saw the vehicles as status symbols now feel ashamed when they are dropped off at the school gates," he said.

Ten years ago, only 78,000 new 4x4s were sold in the Britain. By 2005 the figure had risen to more than 187,000.

Originally meant for those who live and work in rural areas where gradient and mud required extra grip, most 4x4s only have to cope with the gentle undulations of suburban roads leading to desirable schools.

The Mayor of London may have something to do with the decline in sales. Ken Livingstone is preparing a £25 congestion charge in the capital for cars with high carbon emissions, compared with the present £8.

The all-party Commons Environmental Audit Committee, meanwhile, has recommended that road tax should be increased to £1,800 for the "dirtiest" vehicles - some nine times the present rate.

Emily Armistead, of Greenpeace, said the most polluting vehicles, which include many makes of 4x4, were spewing huge quantities of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. "It's encouraging that sales of 4x4s have slowed for the first time," she said. "It shows Britain may at last be turning its back on climate-wrecking cars as scientists warn that global warming poses a huge threat to the planet.

"But tens of thousands of urban 4x4s are still sold every year in Britain. Tony Blair should enact proposals from backbench MPs to tax these polluting vehicles more heavily, so they are driven off our roads completely."

Sales of 4x4s in America have slumped 28 per cent in a year, prompting General Motors bosses to announce a slowdown in production of the vehicles.

But in Britain, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders believes that green activists may be celebrating too soon. A spokesman pointed out that the dip in sales of 4x4s in the first six months of 2006 was only 0.1 per cent compared with total car sales, which were down 4.2 per cent.

Ruth Bridger, of the AA Motoring Trust, said it was "a terrible shame" that tax measures to encourage car buyers to look at alternatives to 4x4s had also covered large family vehicles that often carried 50 per cent more passengers than the average car.

She said the debate over the use of greener cars needed to be based on "scientific fact and common sense", pointing out that a Land Rover Freelander diesel produced less carbon dioxide (CO2) than a two-litre Volkswagen Beetle. "With new 4x4s and people carriers showing the greatest reduction in CO2 emissions, we hope the slight fall in sales of these vehicles does not mean people are hanging on to their old off-roaders." she said. "This would be an own goal by those organisations who say they want to cut vehicle pollution."