They are hated by environmentalists and increasingly shunned by cost-conscious drivers, but many of Britain’s 4x4s are finding a new lease of life abroad. Foreign buyers are targeting these gas-guzzling workhorses and shipping them — and their CO2 emissions — to countries with lower fuel taxes and poorer roads, where their off-road ability is more useful than in Central London.

Dealers report that more than half the customers for some types of second-hand 4x4s come from overseas.The favourable exchange rate is part of the attraction, but some dealers believe that the stigma of driving a 4x4 is causing British drivers to avoid them.

Last year UK registrations of new 4x4s plummeted by 27.14 per cent to 136,525 from a high of 187,392 in 2005, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. In contrast, the “supermini” segment grew by 3.31 per cent, from 27,195 to 28,094.

Matt Cardy, a York-based dealer in new and second-hand 4x4s, said: “I’ve been shipping to Thailand, Singapore, Bolivia and the European countries too. This year there is probably not a country that I haven’t sold to — apart from the US. It really has been phenomenal. When the recession started, business was dire for months. By Christmas I was thinking, ‘OK, I need to look at other markets’. But from Boxing Day the floodgates just opened. I’ve had so many foreign inquiries for cars I’ve been working 18 hours a day.”

Four Track Cars near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, told The Times: “We often sell to dealers in southern Cyprus, but I’m shipping one to Nairobi this week. Selling overseas is the way forward.”

Vehicles are shipped abroad or collected in person on a temporary registration. Certain models have proven particularly popular abroad, including Toyota Landcruisers. A seller from West Sussex said he had sold his Landcruiser to a charity in Malawi, where it is popular for the availability of replacement parts and its suitability for off-road driving.

Michael Boyce sells about 150 cars a year from his base in Bedfordshire. He received ten inquiries in response to an advertisement for a Landcruiser last week, seven from overseas.

Environmental groups welcomed the trend towards smaller cars on British roads, but said that selling gas guzzlers did not cut overall greenhouse gas emissions because the problem had simply been exported.

Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “This represents a trend away from big gas guzzlers, and that’s the result of a combination of economic and cultural issues. But there’s a danger that if we dump older vehicles on developing countries it will cause problems there: pollution, traffic accidents, long-terms costs in repairs and fuel.”

Sian Berry, founder of the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s, said: “It makes sense for people abroad, those who need Land Rovers and so on for a practical use, to buy up our glut. But there’s a sense it’s better to scrap them unless it’s a working vehicle. Otherwise they are needlessly wasteful.”