The survey saw 176 fleet decision-makers questioned about key aspects of their operations, with the findings reinforcing that fleets are concentrating on the effectiveness of the company car as a business tool while looking to further contain costs.

GE Capital added that “CO2 emissions”, “fitness for purpose” and “maximum monthly rental” were also the most common responses in the corresponding edition of the survey from 2010. Since then, “CO2 emissions” as a factor has become much more important; an increase of 31%.

This latest survey saw fleet decision-makers asked again which criteria were used when setting employee car choice, with the responses being:

Gary Killeen, fleet services commercial leader for GE Capital UK, said: ‘The growth of importance of CO2 as a factor compared to three years ago shows just how prevalent CO2-based fleet policies have become. It is today’s fleet policy fundamental.’

Killeen added: ‘The prominence of “fitness for purpose” illustrated the importance of the practicality of the company car while "maximum monthly rental" was an effective way for fleets that leased vehicles to manage costs. Importantly, there has been an increase in employing “vehicle cost per mile” as a vehicle choice criteria, otherwise known as “Whole Life Cost”, which takes into account all of the running costs for a car.

He said: ‘Again, compared to the equivalent Company Car Trends of 2010, we are seeing a definite rise in the number of fleets employing a “Whole Life Cost” approach which is where we would expect the savvy fleet to head and is ultimately the best way to determine choice lists.’

At the bottom of the factors mentioned in the survey, Killeen added that it was surprising that 10% of companies did not use any criteria at all when letting employees make their car choice.

He said: ‘In 2013, when fleet management is firmly established as an important element in the minimisation of any organisation’s overall expenditure, it is disappointing to see that one in 10 companies apply no criteria to vehicle choice. This will inevitably impact heavily on their fleet costs.’