ELECTRIC vehicles from the Volkswagen Group are taking the lion’s share of the salary sacrifice market, according to EV salary sacrifice and fleet management specialist Fleet Evolution.
The top 10 electric models ordered through Fleet Evolution’s salary sacrifice scheme over the past six months are favourites of business users looking to make the most of the tax advantages by switching to an EV.
Six of the 10 most popular models come from the VW Group and combined, group products account for 36.5% of all Fleet Evolution salary sacrifice orders.
| Make-model | Percentage of orders |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | 15.68% |
| Tesla Model 3 | 15.14% |
| Porsche Taycan | 6.49% |
| Kia e-Niro | 4.32% |
| Audi e-tron | 3.78% |
| Skoda Enyaq | 3.78% |
| VW ID.3 | 3.51% |
| VW ID.4 | 3.24% |
| MG ZS EV | 2.70% |
| Tesla Model Y | 2.70% |
The Audi Q4 e-tron has toppled the long-time favourite, Tesla’s Model 3, from top spot in the past six months, though it’s a close-run thing. VW Group models include those from Audi, Porsche, Skoda, and Volkswagen.
Fleet Evolution founder and managing director, Andrew Leech, said: “We are having a record year, with orders up 150% on last year when a number of lockdowns and a huge amount of uncertainty caused by the Covid pandemic put a stranglehold on orders.
“But, with more certainty, the nationwide vaccine roll-out and a return of business and consumer confidence, we have seen orders rebound very strongly as more employees realise what an attractive proposition an EV on salary sacrifice is.
“However, what is becoming increasingly apparent, especially in the last six months, is the domination by Volkswagen Group of our EV order bank, with an array of new models coming increasingly to the fore.”
“The Tesla Model 3 has been our number one model for a long time. But we are now seeing its dominance eroded by VW Group models, probably as buyers move away from the saloon shape and towards the SUV models that dominate much of the UK and European new car markets.
“The Tesla has proved quite a quirky proposition and appealed to a certain type of individual who initially wanted an electric car to underline their green credentials – and at the time the Tesla was the only game in town.
“But our customers are now faced with a much wider choice of models, many of which are from mainstream manufacturers and very competitively priced, and they are more willing to be a little more adventurous in their choice of vehicle – as our order banks confirm.”
Fleet Evolution operates salary sacrifice orders for around 400 businesses with between three and 10,000 employees.
