Outright purchase remains the preferred form of company car acquisition among small- and medium-sized employers.
According to a survey of 1,317 fleet managers by MIB Data Solutions, the vast majority (1,163) preferred to buy company cars outright, while 685 use some form of leasing and 259 do both.
Nick Boddington, managing director of MIB Data Solutions, said that, while leasing has recently grown in popularity across the fleet industry as a whole, SMEs still largely prefer to buy.
"There is no doubt that leasing has become a more popular part of the acquisition mix in recent years," he said.
"It makes an increasing amount of sense for organisations that want to preserve any cash reserves they hold. It provides fixed costs and removes the considerable risk associated with future residual values.
"However, in the SME sector, this snapshot research shows that outright purchase is still very much the most widely used acquisition method.
"In this part of the market, managers that often own and run their own business have traditionally liked to own their assets, and it appears this is still very much the case with cars."
For more articles on company cars and fleet schemes
