Wider manufacturer choice encouraged to beat company car delays

Fleets are opening up company car choice lists to more manufacturers in an effort to speed up delivery times in light of industry wide shortages, says Arval UK.

Petrol and diesel options on choice lists are also being limited as more fleets ‘nudge’ drivers towards electric vehicles (EVs).

The leasing company has been supporting organisations to overhaul choice lists to include a broader choice of manufacturers.

Ben Edwards, Arval UK consultant, said: “We are at a point in time where there is considerable demand for EVs from fleets who are working towards net zero targets and also from their drivers who want to minimise their benefit-in-kind tax bill – that’s a natural financial incentive to make the switch.

“However, a potential barrier to adoption is that large numbers of fleets operate policies which are limited to specific manufacturers’ ‘badges’. This approach used to work well by concentrating buying power and simplifying choice lists, but really doesn’t offer drivers enough choice in the range of models which are available in the current EV market.”

Arval has been advising fleets to keep manufacturer badge restrictions in place for petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid models, but open them up partially or completely when it comes to EVs.

Edwards explained that fleets had most to gain when removing badge preferences for job-need cars. “At the prestige end of the market, which may be reserved for directors or senior staff, manufacturers generally have been able to offer more EV choices, but it is in the lower grades that the selection of models has been relatively limited,” he said.

“Here, by opening up choice lists, we are seeing some manufacturers make inroads into the fleet sector who have not necessarily been part of the core company car market in the past but are now able to provide strong EV models with comparatively good supply.”

Arval recently launched the latest element of its “The Journey Goes On” campaign, designed to help fleets overcome industry supply challenges, with a new white paper.