EXCLUSIVE: Three quarters (75%) of fleets reviewed their car provision during the last 12 months, as many organisations continue to focus on cost saving, according to research by Alphabet.
The Alphabet fleet management report, which surveyed 250 UK fleet managers, also found that:
- The proportion of employers that benchmark fleet costs against the average for the industry increased to 60% in 2012, from 42% in 2011.
- The proportion of employers offering salary sacrifice schemes also increased from 26% in 2011 to 33% in 2012.
- 52% of employers allowed staff to buy company cars at the end of their contracts in 2012, compared to 46% in 2011.
- 26% of public sector fleet managers considered the company car to be important to brand image, compared to 44% in the private sector.
- 10% of public sector organisations in 2012 said that the company car is important as a status symbol to encourage employee development, compared to 35% of private sector organsations.
- 52% of respondents said cost was the main barrier to reaching green targets in 2012.
- A quarter of respondents did not know how much they paid in mileage rates to employees who drive their own cars for business in 2012, compared to four in 10 in 2011.
- The proportion of in-house fleet managers fell to to 37% in 2012, down from 66% in 2011.
Paul Hollick, sales and marketing director at Alphabet (pictured), said: “As employers continue to seek out ways to make cost savings, it is fundamental that they take urgent steps to gain a central view of the full fleet and travel bill, to gain a better understanding of what the total bill for business mobility adds up to.”
This survey is flawed. It was undertaken at fleet manager level it is at a more senior level in companies that fleet strategy is managed. It is not surprising for the vagueness of the responses. In my experience fleet managers are not privileged to be told what is happening at strategy level