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More than a third of fleets expecting growth, research reveals
Date: 02 May 2024 | Author: Sean Keywood
Research has found that 38% of UK fleets are expecting the number of vehicles they operate to grow in the next three years.
Leasing company Arval, which has revealed the finding from its 2024 Mobility Observatory Fleet and Mobility Barometer research, said this was up from 29% when fleets were asked the same question in 2023.
In addition, when the sample was narrowed down to car fleets alone, the figure increased to 43%.
Head of Arval's Mobility Observatory in the UK Shaun Sadlier said: "At a headline level, these results suggest that UK fleets are feeling pretty optimistic about the future and are continuing to shake off the effects of the pandemic.
"This is especially noteworthy given that GDP forecasts for this year predict sluggish growth, indicating that these businesses obviously expect to substantially outperform the wider economy."
Sadlier said there were some interesting data variations among businesses of different sizes. For example, he said businesses with more than 1,000 employees were the least optimistic overall, with 27% expecting growth and 11% expecting contraction.
However, when asked solely about car fleet numbers, 50% of these large employees expected growth.
Sadlier said: "This trend probably illustrates the extent to which larger employers feel there is potential for both cash-takers continuing to return to company cars thanks to low taxation for EVs, and for considerable growth in salary sacrifice schemes that centre on EVs."
Sadlier added that UK fleets had higher growth expectations than the European average in each category, and were among the top five most positive among fleets from all of the 30 countries surveyed.
He said: "This perhaps chimes with the fact that UK businesses are forecast to outperform other major European economies. Looking at specific reasons why UK fleets expect to see expansion, by far the most popular at 81% - up from 76% last year - is that their company is expanding or planning new activities.
"However, it is also noteworthy that 39% see company vehicles as a key employee attraction and retention tool, 37% intend to propose vehicles to employees with no company car eligibility such as salary sacrifice arrangements, and 35% are also interested in car sharing.
"All of these percentages are increases on 2023 and therefore arguably indicate that the fleet is becoming more valuable to businesses."
