Employees have ‘limited choice’ when it comes to company cars, says survey

Employees have a limited choice when it comes to choosing their company cars, according to the latest Company car trends survey from GE Capital’s fleet services business.

The survey states that more than 72% of fleets now offer only a single or limited range of models to their employees. 

This is a significant contrast to a year ago when only three-fifths (62%) of companies offered their drivers a reduced choice of models. Furthermore, almost a third (29%) of employees are currently offered no flexibility on the options fitted to their vehicle.

Efficiency is now top of the agenda for UK businesses as the majority of respondents (58%) now base their choice of fleet cars on ‘fitness for purpose’. This is closely followed by CO2 emissions (52%) and maximum monthly rental (45%).

Furthermore, 9% of fleets do not set any criteria for an employee’s choice of vehicle.

Gary Killeen, UK fleet commercial leader at GE Capital, said: “The continuing issue of cost and the intrinsically linked benefits of being more carbon friendly are of great concern for fleets. 

“It is interesting to see that the pressure to keep costs low means businesses are making tough policy choices, and are looking long and hard at the decision to take more control of what cars their employees can and can’t drive.”

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