THE total fleet run by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association's 1,100 members has broken the two million mark for the first time. BVRLA members buy more than 900,000 vehicles a year - almost half the new vehicles sold in the UK - worth in excess of £12 billion, making the trade association of the daily rental and leasing industry the largest single block of vehicle buyers in Europe.

At the end of 1998, the BVRLA fleet size was 1.86 million vehicles and a 9% increase in the first nine months of this year has taken it to 2,031,319. 'This is quite remarkable,' said BVRLA director general Norman Donkin. 'While some of the growth can be put down to new members joining, it's also a result of the increases in both contract hire and fleet management.'