Toyota Prius Matches Biesse Green Project

EPSOM, UNITED KINGDOM – Sept 6, 2010: The new generation of woodworking machinery made by Biesse UK makes deep cuts in energy consumption and CO2 emissions - as do the latest additions to the company’s car fleet, six top-of-the-range Toyota Prius T Spirit hatchbacks with Hybrid Synergy Drive.

Founded in 1992, Biesse UK of Daventry, Northants is a subsidiary of Biesse Group Spa, world-leading manufacturer of industrial machines for wood as well as glass and stone-working.

The company has been running a fleet of 25 Toyota Avensis cars for the past six years and, building on its positive experience, has now decided to provide its Area Sales Managers and Technical Service Engineers with the ultra-green Toyota hybrids.

“Our criteria for choosing the Prius included tax efficiency, overall running costs and the eco-friendly involvement,” said Biesse UK's Financial Controller, Ken Stanford.

“Biesse UK not only has an environmental policy, but has recently introduced the Biesse Green Project. This is our latest generation of machines, designed to cause less pollution through optimisation of the work process - which sharply reduces excess energy consumption and CO2 emissions.”

All of which makes the Toyota Prius, with its 72mpg combined fuel economy and 89g/km CO2 emissions, the ideal car for Biesse managers and engineers to use when visiting clients.

The cars, which have been supplied through North Herts Toyota of Letchworth, are on contract hire from Toyota Financial Services. They are on a range of three-year contracts, with drivers variously expected to cover 20,000, 30,000 or 40,000 miles a year.

“The overall feedback from the drivers is that they’re happy with their new vehicles - and also pleasantly surprised,” said Ken Stanford.

Key features of the five-door Toyota Prius T Spirit includes three selectable driving modes (EV, ECO and Power); heads-up display, seven airbags, VSC+ stability control, smart entry and start, automatic air-conditioning, heated mirrors, front fog lamps, and six-speaker CD player.