Antonino Mannina, director of Commercial Products from Fiat, said the UK government needs a clear policy on low-emission technologies for commercial vehicles such as compressed natural gas (CNG), if it wants to encourage usage nationally.

   Under the European launch of the Fiat Ducato van driven by CNG, the Italian businessman said that in 2001 the Italian government, oil companies and the Fiat Group (including Iveco) made an agreement to promote CNG through financial incentives and growth of infrastructure, which has led Italy to major advances in technology applied to gaseous fuel. An estimated 9.000 Fiat cars powered by natural gas will be sold in 2009.

   Mannina indicated that they are fully convinced that CNG is the most affordable low contamination fuel at the time and its increasing use in Italy is due to a clearly stated policy, which the United Kingdom currently lacks. He added that this also means that the Italian car business is recovering faster due to the availability of units and existing incentives.

   Italy currently has 650 refueling stations for natural gas, with another 200 under construction. The Fiat Ducato CNG will not be released in the United Kingdom.