Belgian lease drivers still in love with diesel

Never mind Dieselgate or NOx emissions – Belgium’s lease car drivers are still in love with diesel. Electric? Not so much, according to the Belgian Company Car Report. 

A survey of a representative sample of 400 vehicle fleet operators and drivers, the BCCR shows that:

• Only 12% of corporate drivers expect to be behind the wheel of a fully electric vehicle in four years’ time. 
• 70% of corporate drivers still opt for diesel today, and 34% expects to do so by 2023.
• 69% of fleet managers recommend diesel to their drivers – the same percentage as in 2016. 
• 57% of fleet managers (also) recommend petrol to their drivers, up from 13% in 2016.
• Other recommendations: plug-in hybrids 32%, hybrids 19%, electric 22% (just 6% in 2016), CNG 16% and LPG 0% (1% in 2016). 
• Mileage remains the most important criterion for fuel choice (74%), followed by CO2 reduction (42%) and the specific model’s fuel usage (41%). 

No less than 87% of Belgium’s lease fleet in 2019 is propelled by diesel (compare to just 41% in the Netherlands). Conversely, less than 1% is fully electric (6% in the Netherlands). 

Nevertheless, even Belgian fleet managers expect the share of diesel to drop to 45% by 2025.