Fleet drivers shift to downsize their cars - news

COMPANY CAR DRIVERS are beginning to downsize their cars to reduce Benefit-in-Kind liability, according to Lex Vehicle Leasing.

Lex, which operates a fleet of more than 120,000 vehicles, says that its list of around 35,000 vehicles purchased for customers during 2003 shows a shift in purchasing patterns. Proof of this theory is that the VW Passat has gene from fifth most popular car in 2001 to ninth in 2003. Meanwhile the BMW 3 Series has gene from second place in 2001 to fifth place last year.

Steve Jones, Lex Vehicle Leasing's pricing manager, said: "With more drivers choosing their company car with their wallet rather than their heart, following the introduction of the C[O.sub.2] emissions-based tax system, we are buying more small cars for our customers."

Benefiting from such changes are the Ford Focus--which took over the position of being the most popular car on Lex's fleet from the Mondeo--and the Vauxhall Astra--which has moved from seventh place in 2001 to fourth on the list today.

Honda continued to gain a foothold on the Lex fleet; the Civic (11th), Accord (15th) and CRV (16th) all just failed to get into the top 10.

Lex's purchase list also showed the continuing dominance of diesel, with 50% of all purchases being diesel, compared to 25% back in 2001.

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