The global survey, which polled over 3,000 drivers in 20 countries, revealed that the size of the vehicle is the most important factor for 80% of survey respondents. However, bigger is not necessarily always better with 25% of respondents stating that they want to drive a smaller car in the future.

The global findings were echoed by UK drivers, 76% of whom said size was the most important factor and 29% already drive a small car, with a further 11% planning to drive a smaller car in the future. However, in the UK, a low tax allowance and CO2 emissions were almost as significant as the size with 75% of UK respondents describing them as important.

While vehicle size was the number one factor in 15 out of 20 countries there were noticeable exceptions – drivers in Brazil and Turkey both proved more aesthetically inclined.  

Matt Dyer, LeasePlan UK managing director, said: “Our research shows that decisions about which car to drive are governed by practicalities. Appearance will always matter but for an increasing number of company car drivers, lower emissions is more important than looks. Amongst our UK respondents, CO2 emissions were joint second to low tax allowance, showing just how important environmental credentials are to drivers.

“To meet the UK’s ambitious targets for CO2 emissions, we will need significant numbers of drivers to consider vehicles with lower emissions and LeasePlan is already advising clients on their options in this area. We know that this is on the political agenda from George Osborne’s spring Budget when he pledged encouraging measures for a new generation of Low Emission vehicles by increasing company car tax more slowly than previously planned and I expect to see this trend increasing."