Fleet market survey suggests a booming growth in eco-friendly company cars

According to a Fleet Market Attitudes survey, published by Kia, 97 per cent of UK fleet managers are confident in the country’s economic growth, with 71 per cent agreeing that this affects their business.

Figures demonstrate that the UK’s current economic climate has positively affected the fleet market, with the average company’s fleet size increasing by four per cent in the last five years, and demand for fleet services increasing by three per cent since last year.

The UK economy is experiencing a steady rate of growth, reflected equally in the car market which is also benefiting from a similar prosperity. Much of the market’s growth stems from the fleet sector, which has increased by 11 per cent, with fleet accounting for 53 per cent of the total volume.

When asked where they see their fleet in the next five years, fleet managers said they believed the proportion of eco-friendly models would increase to 42 per cent, which will be supported by an improvement in infrastructure and increased familiarity.

Research shows that when selecting a fleet range, organisations are likely to prefer saloons and estates, with appearance, environmental friendliness, fuel-efficiency and safety being top considerations.

As more hybrids and EVs become available, they too are becoming a more seriously considered alternative. However, many respondents agreed that in order to consider changing an organisation’s entire fleet to eco-friendly models, respondents would need to save an average of £483 on fuel costs on each individual car, per year.

The study showed that with regard to the challenges fleet managers faced, around 49 per cent reported the issue of lack of time to address queries about their employees current company cars. Furthermore, 24 per cent admitted there is a lack of resource to identify the best vehicles for the fleet.

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