Fleets are taking advantage of the depressed new car market by negotiating hard with carmakers forcing them to offer more generous discounts.

More fleets are also restricting their vehicle choice as they strike solus deals with manufacturers to get the best deals.

Fleets can significantly reduce rental costs – by as much as £20 per month per vehicle – by striking a solus deal with a volume carmaker.

It is expected that as the economy worsens and new car sales continue to slump, such discounts will become even more attractive.

“Solus deals are often employed when fleet costs come under close scrutiny.

"It is true that large fleet customers, often working with a leasing company, can get significant discounts by leveraging a volume deal with one manufacturer,” explained BVRLA chief executive, John Lewis.

“This is easier to do in the current economic climate.”It is not just large fleets that can benefit.

“Companies running smaller fleets who can’t obtain substantial discounts when offering multi-badge choice to their drivers will especially benefit from striking a sole supply deal,” explained ACFO chairman, Julie Jenner.

The country’s third largest lease company, Lloyds TSB Autolease (LTSBA) confirmed it is seeing customers moving to restricted or solus manufacturer deals.

This drive is not coming from fleet managers – and certainly not from their drivers – but rather from purchasing and procurement departments who are charged with cost cutting, it said.

“It is felt the concentration of purchasing power in choosing one manufacturer will lead to higher front-end discounts and therefore lower rentals,” Mark Chessman, deputy managing director of LTSBA, told Fleet News.

“If you take a rental that includes the standard manufacturer leasing bonus, in the case of most of the so-called volume manufacturers there will be a significant increase in bonus by going to a single badge deal, which could amount to as much as £20 per month over a three-year period.”

However, striking a solus manufacturer deal, while pleasing the bean counters, could have human resource implications.

“Whilst cost is currently the number one priority for fleet operators, care should be taken to consider the impact to drivers especially with regard to staff retention and recruitment,” said Jenner.

“There are some industries that will find it almost impossible to operate a sole badge deal as people will move accept or reject a job based purely on the car they are offered.

Despite this, Jenner said she is also seeing more fleets looking to restrict manufacturer choice, as is LTSBA.

“Just as the last recession acted as a catalyst for fleets to lengthen their lease periods, I think this time around we will see more firms reducing the choice of vehicles employees can pick from,” said Chessman.