The business fleet leasing market for cars and vans grew 6.5 per cent year-on-year to 1.345 million units, according to the British Vehicle Rental Leasing Association (BVRLA).

Between first quarters of 2016 and 2017, the BVRLA’s business car fleet expanded by 3.6 per cent to 987,000. Growth within the group’s light commercial vehicle fleet was much more dramatic though, up 15.3 per cent to 358,000 units.

The appeal of car leasing has continued to gather pace amongst UK motorists since the start of 2016, with total car leasing growing by 11 per cent year-on-year.

Over half of that growth was attributed to an increase in personal contract hire (PCH), while business fleet leasing contributed just under a quarter of that growth.

Emissions down

Average CO2 emissions across the BVRLA lease car fleet dropped four per cent year-on-year from 117.7g/km to 113.1g/km, while the proportion of diesel cars with in the BVRLA fleet continued to decline with three in four vehicles in the BVRLA fleet being diesel (74.9 per cent).

BVRLA chief executive Gerry Keaney was glad that the group’s CO2 emissions were “heading in the right direction”, but he was concerned with the lack of progress in the reduction of average CO2 emissions in new cars last year.

He commented: “Government has ambitious targets for improving air quality and cutting CO2 emissions. With the right tax regimes, incentives and guidance, the fleet industry can have a huge impact on achieving these goals.”

Ben Robb, brand manager at The Fuelcard People, adds: “People have grown accustomed to paying for everything monthly – from their mortgage and credit card bills to Netflix and Spotify. So it only makes sense that and more and more people are turning to leasing when buying their next car.”

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With over 10,000 deals available right now, visit fcsvehiclesolutions.co.uk/contact or call 01273 020 588 to discuss your next lease car.

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