Value driven Nat Barnes reveals the key factors to consider when buying company cars

ompany car drivers used to be something of a joke. The free car to be used and abused, the shiny suits, the jacket hanging up in the rear window, the Overdrive credit card filling their cupboards at home with free petrol station glass tumblers. Now, though, everything has changed.

Well, almost. When it comes to company cars, drivers and their fleet managers have to be sharper and wiser than ever. While some of that old-school car snobbery remains among drivers, fleet managers have to take into account everything from constantly changing tax regimes, emissions and maintenance costs, to staff wellbeing and happiness.

“Running a car fleet has become much more diverse and professional in recent years,” says John Pryor, chairman of the Association of Car Fleet Operators and fleet and travel manager at Arcadia Group.“It’s now much more about pure mobility and how you want to get your staff from A to B. It’s not about the price of the car, it’s about the cost of the journey and also about the company’s overall carbon dioxide emissions.”