"Diesel has already overtaken petrol as the fuel of choice in the fleet sector, which is renowned for being an early adopter of new vehicle technologies," said Lex Autolease principal consultant Chris Chandler.
"But clearly, there is an expectation the move away from petrol will accelerate as hybrids and EVs now begin to attract greater market share."
Less than 5 percent of members of the two groups which took part in the study believe that petrol cars sales will be higher than those of vehicles running on alternative fuels. Eight out of ten business drivers (78 per cent) and two thirds of financial directors (65 per cent) are confident that hybrid or electric vehicles will outsell their petrol powered equivalents, becoming the most popular company car choice.
The Lex Autolease study involved 230 company drivers and 70 directors of finance. Furthermore, the leasing company's driver survey found that 87 per cent of drivers interviewed would consider a diesel for their next company car, while just 28 per cent would put a petrol option on their list of preferable cars.
Almost half of all drivers taking part in the survey would like to road test either a hybrid or a fully electric vehicle, while almost two thirds of finance bosses believe that employees should be given the option to add these vehicles to their company car choice list.
Google News