Mileages fall by almost 19% in two years

Figures from National Car Rental, part of Europcar UK Group, the UK’s leading vehicle rental organisation, suggest business drivers are planning road travel more carefully, triggered perhaps by heightened awareness of environmental concerns. The news follows the recent announcement that Europcar UK Group is the first rental company to provide average CO2 emissions for each car group to help drivers make more informed decisions about the vehicles they are renting.

In the past two years, the average miles driven per rental has decreased by 18.7% according to National’s data as average rental mileage dropped from 564 miles in 2005 to 459 miles per rental in 2007.

Tim Bailey, Fleet Director said: “We have seen an interesting reduction in the average number of miles driven per rental. This reduction equates to an average of around 30,000 fewer grammes of carbon emissions per rental which is obviously good news for the environment.

“Clearly, we can only speculate about the causes for this reduction in mileages incurred but it does suggest our customers are not simply thinking about their destination; but planning their journeys, being selective about how far they drive and choosing an appropriate vehicle – indicating a greater consciousness of environmental issues, congestion and fuel consumption. We also believe the wider availability of GPS units to assist with route planning will have had some impact on these figures.”

Whilst overall, the average miles per rental has fallen, National has seen increases in the mileage incurred in larger vehicles such as estates and people carriers. Estate mileages increased by 15.4% and people carriers by 14.6% in the period 2006-2007.

“Whilst the majority of rentals are in our small and medium sized vehicles, this increase in the mileages incurred in larger vehicles indicates people are choosing more spacious cars for longer journeys, with opportunities for sharing the driving and cutting costs.

“Overall this has to be a step in the right direction. The reduction of miles in small to medium cars coupled with the increase of mileages in larger vehicles suggests people are beginning to ask themselves how they can travel more wisely. Vehicle rental helps them do just that ensuring they have access to the right vehicles for the right job, all on average just 3 and a half months old and fitted with the latest technology to cut carbon emissions and support fuel economy.”