Fleets worth up to £19.5bn to UK economy

Fleets are worth up to £19.5 billion to the UK economy every year, according to a new study out today from Sewells Research and Insight.

The figure was revealed by Sewells during an industry briefing to some of Britain’s biggest fleets, at a Fleet News Fleet200 quarterly meeting.

The average amount fleets spend on running each vehicle is estimated to be between £4,500 and £6,500 per annum, based on figures supplied by hundreds of fleet operators.

With approximately 3,000,000 fleet cars and vans on the road, the amount spent on running these vehicles is estimated to be up to £19.5bn annually. In comparison, the net value-add to the UK economy by automotive manufacturing is around £12bn each year, according to the SMMT.

The news comes after Sewells recently revealed that company car drivers are putting pressure on fleet managers and companies alike for more premium products such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. This pressure, along with economic recovery, could push company car fleet costs even further.

“Any fleet manager will know how costs can quickly grow when looking after a fleet of vehicles. Looking at fleet sales as a whole, you start to see just how crucial it is to the automotive industry and the UK economy,” said Simon Staplehurst, commercial manager at Sewells Research and Insight as he revealed the results to fleet operators.

“It’s widely accepted that the Fleet200 fleets are worth around £3bn. These results show that fleets outside of this group are equally as valuable to the economy.

“Even with a conservative average spend of £5,000 per fleet vehicle, the value is £15bn before any additional services such as accident management, staffing and insurance are considered.

“It has long been accepted that fleet sales are a key piece of the UK economy, but the true scale has never been fully explored – until now. This demonstrates the significance of fleet managers across the UK.”