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New car market – the shift in fleet purchasing from diesel dominance

Glasss diesel overview nov17
Glasss diesel overview nov17

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November 10, 2017

diesel dominance
Jayson Whittington

THE days of diesel dominance even in the fleet market are nearing an end, set to be overtaken by petrol as the fuel of choice within months, says Glass’s Jayson Whittington.

He says: “It is noteworthy that although diesel continues to be the dominant fuel amongst fleet customers, its share is even waning in this domain.

“Analysis of detailed registrations data provided by the SMMT reveals that the diesel share of fleet registrations has fallen below 60% every month since November 2016 and its demise is accelerating.

“The diesel share even fell to 50% in August and only recovered to 51% in September.

“Petrol has of course been the main beneficiary and based on this trend, is set to surpass diesel as the leading fuel among fleet buyers within months.

“The high upfront cost of electric vehicles (EVs) means they are only cost-effective over the long term and are therefore far more popular with private buyers than with fleet buyers which rarely keep vehicles beyond five years.

“This also means that EVs take far longer to flow through to the used car market. Although diesel demand is still falling more rapidly among private consumers than fleet buyers, this trend is rather worrying as fleet users naturally cover higher mileage.

“As it is, there are already concerns that CO2 levels could rise in the UK this year for the first time since average CO2 emissions were recorded and a continuation of this trend will only increase the likelihood of that.

“This only adds to the woes of manufacturers, who are facing large fines for potentially missing CO2 targets in Europe by 2021.”

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