– By Marc Sibbald –
When I first heard that fleets purchase up to 50% of all new vehicles each year I felt proud; and excited to be in an industry that employed so many people in manufacturing, dealerships and as fleet managers.
I think it was at the launch of the Camry Hybrid in 2010 and Deb Bacon from Toyota quoted it in her presentation. It made me think about the impact fleets had on the economy and the responsibility on the industry to provide safe, low emission producing vehicles into the second hand market. And still today I take pride that I’m involved in the fleet industry.
The 2016 VFACTS results show that sales to Business, Government and Rental customers made up 50% of all new vehicles which is up from 46% in 2015. After several years of slumber it appears businesses are back and purchasing a large number of light commercial and SUVs.
The big increase (13%) from 2016 was sales to Business (this covers small, medium and large businesses) and there was a small increase to Rental (6%).
As expected its light commercial vehicles where businesses buy more than private buyers and push the overall rate to 50%. In the passenger and SUV segments private buyers still purchase more vehicles than Business, Government and Rental.
So as we enter 2017 and you think about your career and your future; be proud of your role the fleet industry and the contribution it makes to the economy. And think about the simple pleasure, pride and joy a ‘new car smell’ can bring to the lives of the custodian and their family (even if their employer did paid for it).
Read more on about VFACTS results –
