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BusinessCar editor Paul Barker asked attendees about low rolling-resistance tyres, which are said to increase fuel economy, and if there was a danger of their impact being lessened if fleets were to replace them with standard or lower-quality rubber to save on SMR costs.
Kwik-Fit's Martin Towers said: "It's wrong to say people are moving away from premium brand tyres. The vast majority of tyres we sell into the fleet arena will be premium, and mid-range brands are growing. Budget is still very much a retail product, so it's wrong to say that's happening.
"Are we changing like for like? No we're not, but that's economics that are driving [those decisions], whether it be relationships with the manufacturers or just purely for an invoice price, but [fleets] tend to stay within the premium brand marketplace."
He continued: "We've certainly seen on vehicles such as Efficient Dynamics BMWs, for example, customers are buying them for specific reasons and are very keen to have the right tyres replaced onto those vehicles as well, so we are seeing that there is a growing market for what we would call energy tyres.
"It's difficult to buy a bad tyre, that's the reality of it. And it's difficult to weigh up the benefits of a premium, mid-range or budget tyre when, from a whole-life cost perspective, the right foot of the driver is still very much the biggest factor in all of that."
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