Along with “fitness for purpose” and “maximum monthly rental”, these three criteria lead every other factor used by the fleets surveyed by a huge margin – more than 50% of respondents named these top factors but all others polled less than 20%.

A wide range of fleet decision makers who took part in the report were asked What criteria do you use for an employee’s choice of car? The responses from fleets were:

Gary Killeen, fleet services commercial leader for GE Capital UK, said: ‘These results are very much consistent with those that we have seen from our Company Car Trends research right through the recession and into the current economic recovery.

‘The company car choices that organisations are making in 2014 remain very much based on providing vehicles that are tax and fuel efficient thanks to their low CO2 rating, are practical for fleet purposes, and can be acquired in a cost effective manner through a defined monthly rental.

‘We may be heading towards better economic conditions but the fleet industries general mindset shows no signs of significantly changing.’

However, there were some indicators in a number of the responses received that a small but growing number of organisations appeared to be adopting a more “post-recession” view.

Killeen added: ‘It may be noteworthy that the top two factors – “CO2 emissions” and “fitness for purpose” – have both fallen in popularity in percentage terms compared to the Company Car Trends research undertaken at the same point in 2013. This could indicate that organisations are perhaps loosening policy requirements a little. 

‘Also, the fact that “brand image” has increased in popularity during the last 12 months is perhaps a sign that companies are starting to think more about recruitment and retention issues, and becoming more concerned about presenting attractive car choices as the jobs market improves.’