A sports car – Porsche has hit out against the increased London congestion charge for high-powered vehicles.

Porsche has announced its intention to start legal action against the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and Transport for London (TfL) after congestion charges rise over 3,000%. The Mayor has vigorously contested Porsche’s actions.

TfL introduced the increased daily congestion charge of £25 (from £8, or 80p for residents) for Band G cars – high-powered sports cars and luxury vehicles – in an effort to reduce the capital’s CO2 emissions by 60% by 2025.

It cited its survey, carried out among Londoners, which revealed the majority supported a higher charge for such cars.

Porsche believes the charge increase is “unfair and disproportionate” and has claimed that it has been denied access to the full survey results, carried out by Ipsos Mori. It has asked the British Polling Council to investigate the matter, and has asked Mr Livingstone to release the full survey tables, rather than just summary tables.

The car manufacturer commented on the charge increase that will affect 33,000 cars every day: “Thousands of car owners driving a huge range of cars will be hit by a disproportionate tax which is clear will have a very limited effect on CO2 emissions…successful people from across the world will start to think twice about basing themselves here if they think they are going to be used as cash cows for City Hall.”

Porsche itself has also carried out a survey amongst Londoners, results of which have shown that the majority believe the congestion charge to be too high. However, a spokesperson for the Mayor questioned the validity of the survey: “Participants in the survey were given totally misleading information about which vehicles would be affected and why a higher charge was being proposed.

“This survey is part of a campaign by a blatantly vested interest, a luxury car manufacturer with high CO2 emitting cars.”