Company cars stall as firms cut costs

THE latest company car figures from HM Revenue and Customs have left finance directors and chief executives across Britain scratching their heads.

The last offcial count has shown a further reduction in company cars, to 940,000 for 2013. Trends suggest businesses are moving away from company car arrangements, which peaked during the early 1990s.

Company car expert Tristan Maynard of BCS Partnership, Rochdale suggested future HMRC figures are likely to show a further reduction in company car drivers - figures have been in decline since taxes increased. Estimates for 2015 show a drop to 750,000 from 1.95 million in the early Nineties

Mr Maynard said: “The age of the casual company car is coming to an end. More and more finance directors and chief executives are looking at ways to reduce the impact of their business travel policies. More than 90 per cent of company car arrangements are financially better funded by the employee driver.”