Purchase of 10 x KIA Sportage PHEVs

His Majestys Coastguard and Maritime Officers are regularly required to switch between carrying personnel and equipment. It has been identified that we need to improve the capability of vehicles used for this task. All wheel drive SUV style vehicles are currently the best option to provide this capability cost effectively. These vehicles can be easily configured for administrative and emergency response roles. The KIA Sportage PHEV AWD is another example and suitable alternative, meets our operational and safety requirements and it has an excellent passenger and good load capacity. The vehicle has several key safety features improving overall safety for users and is competitively priced. In line with Government ULEV and the HM Coastguard Business Plan vehicle greening requirements the purchase of these vehicles is the continuation to satisfy this requirement. We are replacing and moving Operational vehicles utilised across HMCG to support Maritime and Coastal Operations. These vehicles are required to operate in a variety of environments and in all weather and are all-wheel drive Hybrid Vehicle replacements reducing carbon emissions whilst maintaining operational effectiveness. These purchases have been secured using the Crown Commercial Services framework RM6244 (Lot 1 Purchase of Passenger Cars (including 4x4 variants).