Just 2% of businesses are ready to give up company cars, despite 48% stating their interest in corporate mobility solutions, according to new research from Arval.

Shaun Sadlier, head of Arval’s Corporate Vehicle Observatory in the UK

UK businesses were the most interested in adopting car and ride sharing in the next three years – more than any other European country included in the survey.

The findings come from the 2018 edition of Arval’s Corporate Vehicle Observatory Barometer research, which covers 3,718 fleet decision makers.

Shaun Sadlier, head of Arval’s Corporate Vehicle Observatory in the UK, said: “We have recently introduced a range of mobility products ourselves and believe that they will come to play a larger role in business travel.

“However, the fact is that the company car has been the number one business travel solution in the UK for approaching 50 years now for a long list of very good reasons. It remains the most efficient, cost effective and popular way for most employees to undertake the journeys they need to make.

“This is especially true when you look at the real-world routes that company car drivers take, which often include multiple stops or travel to places where there is simply no practical public transport alternative.

“Plus, with the attention that is given to controlling the emissions of company cars, there is an argument that they are also among the more environmentally friendly solutions available.”

According to evidence in the Corporate Vehicle Observatory research, interest in mobility solutions was highest among larger organisations with, for example, 7% of businesses with more than 250 employees being interested in ride sharing and 5% in car sharing.

Sadler continued, “This makes sense. Ideas such as car and ride sharing are much more practical, in almost all cases, if you have more employees. A greater number of people opens up options in terms of sharing both journeys or vehicles to generate cost and environmental efficiencies.”

Earlier this year, Arval launched a car sharing product to supplement the short and mid-term rental solutions that it has had in place for some time.

The research follows Fleet World’s own “Minutes to Midnight: Saving the Company Car” campaign to save the company car, which highlights their benefits while looking at the challenges they face.