Unfortunately no, because Volvo's defence will be that by publishing the EC test figures and only the EC test figures they are complying to the letter of EC law. The EC Directive compels manufacturers to mislead. This wasn't the intention of the Eurocrats. The original prescribed lab test regime was established to set a comparative standard. But because it primarily measures CO2 for tax purposes, and because there is huge advantage in achieving the lowest possible CO2 for tax purposes, manufacturers optimise their engines to give the lowest possible CO2 in the lab tests. Fuel economy is extrapolated from this and, thought these fuel economy figures are the only figures manufacturers are allowed to quote, they no longer bear any relation to what anyone can expect in real life.

That is why we set up the Real Life Fuel Economy Register, (at www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg) allowing all owners or drivers to post the economy they are getting in a register alongside their make and model of car, engine, and transmission. Every entry then automatically alters the running total to give a true and realistic figure that anyone can access.