WITH the new 66 registration this month and the tranche of fresh car launches looming, many companies turn their attention to refreshing their fleet – and BMW tops company car preferences.

With 33% of all interviewees stating that a good company car is one of the greatest incentives for accepting a new role, businesses have begun using their fleets to incentivise staff.

According to a survey by broker OSV, BMW are leading the way when it comes to pulling power.

Although BMW clearly hold the top popularity spot, they’re not the only German brand to have made the fleet car wish-list, with four out of five of the top-selling fleet vehicles being made by our European friends: VW, Audi, Ford and Mercedes.

So what drives the decision behind fleet car selection? For almost half (42%) of those surveyed, vehicle efficiency was the leading draw.

Encouragingly a third (32%) stated that emissions were a big consideration when purchasing a company fleet – which makes it all the more surprising that VW slipped into the second place spot, following the ‘emissions scandal’ of September 2015.

However, it does nicely correlate with the fact that 21% of those surveyed stated that they’d opt for an electric company car upgrade with September’s new registrations.

For another 30% of business car buyers, technology was listed as a primary influence over their final purchase decision – and with one in five (19%) workers stating that a company car was the deciding factor when taking a job, you can understand the logic behind that decision.

There’s also, perhaps, a good degree of logic behind the favoured colour of cars, with more than a third (39%) of companies selecting grey for their fleet. Could this be because it takes a little less maintenance to keep a grey car looking good?

Possibly, although that thought process doesn’t necessarily follow through with the other top choices: 25% opted for black, 20% for white, 9% for red and only 5% for silver, which had previously held the top spot.

OSV joint-company director Andrew Kirkley said: “Fleet selection is a really important decision for business owners, whether they hire or buy outright.

“While it’s clear that the type of car you have on offer to employees can affect your chances of hiring and the calibre of staff that you can attract to your company, business owners also need to consider the ongoing maintenance costs that a fleet can incur. It seems that in most Brits’ eyes, the Germans still have the edge when it comes to efficiency and reliability.

‘While there was some concern in the trade that the recent tax increase would impact upon company car uptake this season, our survey also revealed that 15% of businesses plan to spend more on fleet cars this September than ever before. This is great news for both the industry and the general economy as a whole.’