When it comes to choosing a new company car, size outweighs appearance. So says a report from LeasePlan – the world’s leading provider of fleet and vehicle management solutions – on a global survey of the 3,400 fleet drivers.
The survey found that 80 percent of those drivers see size of the vehicle as the most important selection criteria when choosing a vehicle.
U.S. data showed 66 percent of drivers choose size as important criteria for selecting a car. Appearance only ranked higher in countries like Brazil or Turkey.
In the United States, only 18 percent of drivers revealed they currently drive a small vehicle and would continue to do so in the future. Additionally, only six percent of the drivers surveyed in America said they would prefer a smaller vehicle as their next model.
In addition to size and appearance, 43 percent of drivers in the U.S. indicated engine performance influenced their decisions, ranking this selection factor third on the list. Drivers worldwide, however, considered brand to be the third most important factor when purchasing a vehicle.
Brand
Not every fleet driver is allowed to pick the brand he or she is passionate about due to their company’s regulations. Forty-one percent must settle for a predefined list of brands, and in 33 percent of cases, the company will make the decision.
Coinciding with the global trend, 84 percent of U.S. drivers do not have the freedom to choose the brand of their company vehicle. Fourteen percent indicated their company allows them to choose a vehicle from a predefined list.
