THE company car has been assaulted on many sides for years with suggestions that it was falling out of favour with employees.
And increasing levels of benefit in kind taxation certainly added weight to that argument.
But research from Arval, based on its Mobility Observatory, suggests that the company car is an integral part of corporate culture.
Fewer than one in five UK businesses (18%) say they believe their company drivers would give up their vehicle for a range of other options, including a mobility budget, car sharing, ride sharing or a mid-term rental arrangement.
Shaun Sadlier, head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, said:
“At a time when the company car is undoubtedly changing, perhaps more than at any other time in living memory thanks to the arrival of new forms of power, these results show how resilient it remains within UK corporate culture.
The reasons for this are simple – the company car is an extremely time-efficient and cost-effective means of transport as well as being a strong employee benefit. Mobility solutions will need to match or exceed these advantages if they are to compete in the market.
He added that even among respondents who thought that their drivers would give up their company vehicle, most of the alternatives chosen often represented an alternative method of car provision – which is even more prevalent post-COVID-19.
“If you look deeper into our research, the attachment to the car is even more marked. Among drivers who would give up their vehicle, the vast majority of the alternatives they would consider are arguably different methods of accessing a car using company money, from finance schemes such as private leasing or salary sacrifice, to medium-term rental.
“In fact, looking at the figures in that light, just one in 20 fleet managers report that their drivers would give up their company car for a non-car solution – a mobility budget – and even that may ultimately be spent on a car.”
Automotive and fleet writer for Broker News
