Switching to diesel won't guarantee savings

Date: 22 February 2007

filling up

Recent research by Arval has suggested that up to one-third of business have diesel-only policies but only a fraction are reaping financial rewards.

Out of the 432 businesses quizzed, 33% admitted tying themselves to the black pump - double the number back in 2003 - but out of those, only 21% have recorded savings.

Most moved to diesel expecting to reduce fuel bills by 15%, but once in place, less than a quarter have benefited from the change.

The poor number of those making fuel savings has been blamed on diesel's higher fuel and vehicle cost, and businesses failing to meet a vehicle's break even point.

Despite this, there's little evidence of diesel's popularity waning, with the fuel's penetration expected to grow from 73% to 79% in 2007.

Number of fleets with diesel-only fuel policies

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