CVO 2009 Barometer results presentation

On 18th June 2009 in Warsaw, the results of fourth edition of an international CVO Barometer research panel focusing on Car Fleet Management industry and initiated by the ARVAL Group were presented.

In Poland, the study was carried out by TNS OBOP in Q1 2009, comprising of interviews with fleet policy decision makers. A total of 12 countries was included in the panel, with TNS conducting 3700 interviews overall (300 interviews were conducted in Poland).

This year’s study was divided into four sections:

- Car fleets

- Financing

- Environment

- Crisis – impact on fleet policy

The first section related to car fleets was used to examine distribution of company car types in Poland. For smaller companies, commercial vehicles are clearly a dominant group (77%), while for larger organizations the share of passenger vehicles is higher. Polish companies are less likely to offer cars as part of remuneration packages – the European average is slightly above 30%, while on the Polish market the share of motivational vehicles in only 9%.

When looking at fleet financing methods presented in the second section of the panel, it is interesting to note that operational leasing almost doubled its share over the last two years (2007-2009) for the largest companies segment (from 12% in 2007 to 23% in 2009). The trends are similar when considering fleet financing over the coming 3 years: the largest companies plan to optimize their cash flows and utilize operational leasing to an even greater extent. Self financing of purchases is still the dominant method on the Polish car fleet market, even though its significance decreases constantly giving way to external financing e.g. via leasing.

„The largest companies utilize operational leasing with increasing frequency. Growth dynamics for operational leasing indicates that those larges companies are particularly drawn to this form of company car purchase” – commented Andrzej Olszewski, TNS OBOP CEO.

Third section of the interview focused on environmental issues. The interviewees selected the following most common actions to be taken over the years to come in order to minimize negative environmental fleet impacts: switching to cars with modern engines (27%), using alternative transportation methods (18%), as well as eco-driving training and car-pooling promotion (10% each). Polish companies are less likely to replace in-person meetings attendants need to drive to with videoconferencing (only 3%) or optimise travel routes (7%). Respondents from other countries in the panel were much more likely to implement green actions: switching to cars with modern engines is declared by 49% companies, switching to “greener” cars by 36%, optimization of travel routes by 28%. 18% of interviewees were willing to replace meetings requiring travel with videoconferencing.

The last, fourth section – “Crisis – impact on fleet policies” – is a novelty in the CVO Barometer. The main conclusion that comes from this section is the optimistic approach exhibited by Polish respondents – much more so than among foreign decision makers. Polish manager want to expand their fleets over the next three years in spite of unfavourable macroeconomic factors – from 21 to as much as 40% of respondents plan vehicle purchases, with exact figures depending on company size.

Almost 30% of decisive managers from largest companies believe the crisis has already resulted in changes to fleet policies. The smaller the company, the weaker the crisis is in eyes of the interviewees. Small companies are more optimistic as to crisis impact on their fleet policies. This trend is in line with opinions coming from other EU countries, where crisis impact is recorded as twice as powerful among the larges companies.

When choosing actions to be implemented in the face of crisis, Polish respondents most frequently select limiting fuel consumption (17%) and resigning from further vehicle purchases (7%). The Polish companies are not willing to switch to smaller cars (only 2% take this solution into account), which might however be linked to the fact that cars with smaller engines are already in use here. The most significant challenges in the times of crisis include negotiating higher rebates from manufacturers and reducing car purchase costs (39% of companies, jointly). Summing up this year’s issue of the CVO Barometer, Paweł Partycki, Arval Polska Sales and Marketing Director, said: “Our research shows that popularity of operational leasing is growing slowly but constantly year on year. It is a financing source used in the EU much more commonly than in Polish companies. We hope the economic slowdown will become an impulse for many companies to review their cost and profit structures related to fleet maintenance that could lead to more outsourcing decisions in that area”.

 

The Corporate Vehicle Observatory project was initiated by the ARVAL Group, European leader in the Car Fleet Management industry (CFM – long term company car rental, that is operational leasing combined with comprehensive integrated maintenance of the leased car). CVO is a multinational institution created in an answer to the growing interest with car fleet issues. It associates all kinds of automotive market players: manufacturers, suppliers, fleet managers, insurance companies, journalists and governmental authority representatives. CVO was established in 2002 in France and operates in 13 countries – Great Britain and Greece joined the organization in 2009. Each year in all CVO member states a professional independent renowned research project is carried out – the CVO Barometer. It mirrors the awareness and attitudes of CFM market decision makers, determines new trends and sparkles discussions on key issues.

The CVO Barometer serves three basic purposes:

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