From 2025 your new performance car might cost over £5k to tax

Changes made to car tax rates in the Autumn Budget are set to hit a range of premium and performance models from 24 brands in April next year. Each will land buyers of new models with an extra £2745 cost, an increase that’s directly related to a car’s published CO2 emission figure, for anything over 254g/km. There are a few high-performance models that will be notable in their absence from that list, however, either because they’re surprisingly clean or because they will be sufficiently hybridised come April 2025.

Most high-performance cars that still retain a purely internal combustion powertrain are a dead cert for the increase. Aston Martin’s entire range of GT cars and SUVS – from the Vantage to the DB12, Vanquish and DBX707 – are sure to be included. The only car in Aston Martin’s 2025 range that could escape it is the new Valhalla, which with its hybrid V8 powertrain and electric-only capability, could post CO2 figures under 200gkm. The Maserati MC20 and combustion-powered GranTurismos are only just caught, with figures in the 260-280g/km range.

Bentley with its Continental GT and Flying Spur, which now feature a hybrid powertrain and official CO2 figures as low as 29g/km, should escape it. Likewise, Porsche’s Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. While the new 911 GT3 and naturally-aspirated 718s are far from escaping the hike, the new range of 911 Carreras, including the GTS T-Hybrid and in addition to the four-cylinder 718s, are under the threshold.

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It’s a mixture of abject wins, narrow escapes and narrow losses for BMW. The new plug-in hybrid M5 has come along at exactly the right time, sporting a hybrid powertrain, CO2 figures under 50g/km and real usable electric range. The BMW M3, which is not a hybrid, narrowly escapes with a maximum CO2 figure of 235g/km – just 20g/km below the threshold. The M8, X5 M and X6 M meanwhile, which use a similar V8 to the M5 only without the hybrid tech and electric driving capability, do not. The M8 Coupe is just 4g/km over the 255g/km threshold.

The soon-to-be-replaced ICE-only Audi RS6, RS7 and RSQ8 are similarly afflicted. The five-cylinder Audi RS3 escapes, producing just 208g/km. Mercedes’ V8 models are in a curious position. Only the £180k, 800bhp+ E-Performance GT63s and SL63 escape the hike with their hybridity dragging overall emissions down to below 200g/km. An AMG GT63 S, by comparison, gets nailed, at 319g/km.

This speaks to a general rule of thumb that most hybrids seem to escape the hike, while most higher-performance or luxury models that go without hybridity, need double-checking.

The only hybrid we’ve found that doesn’t escape is the 276g/km Lamborghini Revuelto. While it can do just under six miles on electric power alone, that’s not enough to counteract the output of its 6.5-litre V12. The Lamborghini Temerario on the other hand, which combines the same hybrid system with a new twin-turbo V8, should escape the charge, given its all-new twin-turbo V8 is much cleaner than its big brother’s V12. Overall figures are expected to be half those of the 330g/km+ Huracán.

It’s the same story for Ferrari and McLaren. While the hybrid 296 GTB escapes, as would the SF90 if it were still on sale, the V8 Roma, V12 Purosangue and 12 Cilindri, do not. The McLaren 750S and GTS are only just over, while the hybrid Artura escapes.