CLEAN Air Zones (CAZ) and the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) are impacting fleet car choice.
The change in policy depended on business size: above 1000 employees and with a wider operational footprint saw most impact on change, whereas companies with fewer than 10 staff saw less requirement for change.
The research was carried out by Arval for its Mobility Observatory report.
More than three quarters (76%) of fleet surveyed said they will replace vehicles so they meet the new standards, whereas 27% will find other types of transportation to allow them to continue doing business within the zones, and 27% will make no changes, accepting the impact and cost.
Shaun Sadlier, head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, said:
“These results indicate the ways in which fleets have been responding to the introduction of CAZs across the country although, of course, this has now been widely delayed by the coronavirus crisis.
Overall, more than four out of 10 believe they will be affected and, of these, around three out of four plan to meet the challenge by operating vehicles that meet whatever new regulations are being introduced.
“To us, this is unsurprising. In most places, the introduction of CAZs are really designed to remove the older, less clean technology vehicles from cities and the truth is that because the regulations are relatively straightforward, many fleets are already compliant. Over the next couple of years, just through the normal replacement of vehicles, most should meet the rules.
“Overall, for the people who are putting CAZs into place, the results shown in the research would probably be viewed as a largely positive outcome – an overall reduction in traffic from fleets and a cleaner vehicle.”
Automotive and fleet writer for Broker News
