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There's a second, important figure that could have the unexpected twist of boosting the number of people offered a company car because it could prove a very tax-efficient way for a company to offer several thousand pounds'-worth of benefit.
Get drivers into anything at sub-110g/km and firms will be allowed to write-down the car's entire value in the first year.
"Sub-110g/km is wonderful if you can get the cars," says fleet consultant David Rawlings of Business Car Finance. "It's very efficient because a 100% write-down means a lot to companies and a low BIK means a lot to the driver."
At the moment, the only decent-sized models that get below 110g/km are hybrid cars such as Honda's Civic IMA and the forthcoming Insight, plus the Toyota Prius. But there are other attractive models on the way such as the VW Golf Bluemotion, provided the tax boundaries don't shift in the way BIK has been eased downward.
Financial expert Rawlings predicts the majority of companies are likely to be better off leasing rather than renting from April, but advises that hunting around for the best deal will be time well-spent.
"Go into the market and see what's out there," says Rawlings. "There are still some massive deals to be had from manufacturers, but be very careful about which leasing company you use because some don't pass them on."
Fleet Intellect's James Langley agrees. "You should in any case be reviewing your choice lists on a regular basis to identify any price movements," he says. "I guess it's true that not all lease companies are applying the changes in the same way so there may be variations, and on top of that they're all faced with issues regarding RVs."
An additional consequence of this new tax law could be a permanent alteration to the fleet landscape.
"With all the clouds hanging over manufacturers at the moment, the first thing that gets hit is the research and development budget," says Lex's Coley, "so you may find some manufacturers disappear from the fleet market because they're not set up for it," he says. "The fleet manager or finance director will make a choice on cost, if vehicles don't match up they'll disappear.
"If manufacturers are not going to spend the money on R&D they may find themselves three or four years down the line wondering where their fleet share went."
That's for the future to decide, but one thing that's certain is that from the first day of April 160g/km will become the most significant of numbers for anyone involved in financing and operating business cars.
You'd be an April Fool not to take note.
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