According to the Lex list for 2007, Vauxhall, Ford and VW took seven out of the top 10 places.
The Vauxhall Astra was the most popular car on the Lex fleet of 273,503 vehicles, closely followed by the Ford Focus, while overall Ford was the most popular fleet brand securing three out of the top 10 spaces.
The cars that rose in popularity by volume were the Audi A3 (fourth place) and Ford Mondeo (fifth), both of which were not in the top 10 in 2005 when Lex last carried out the survey, while the VW Golf fell the furthest from first in 2005 to ninth in 2007.
Diesel models continued to dominate the fuel mix in 2007, accounting for 80% of all cars purchased, compared with 64% in 2005. With company car drivers benefiting from lower benefit in kind tax costs and lower personal fuel bills from choosing a diesel, these figures could rise still further in 2008.
Steve Jones, Lex pricing manager, said: “The last few times we have carried out this analysis a Focus/Golf/Astra sized car has proven the most popular fleet car.
“The Government’s move to a carbon dioxide based benefit in kind tax system has certainly helped encourage company motorists to downsize their choice of car. And with more different versions of the same car being launched by manufacturers, company motorists have got a wider choice than they have ever had before.”
The fleet sector continues to help boost overall new car sales in the UK. According to SMMT statistics, in 2007 1,194,811 cars were bought by fleets, a rise of 3.3% over 2006.
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