The typical company car user does not exist: The case of Flemish company car drivers

In recent years the use of company cars has gained a lot of importance. In Belgium, they are increasingly used by companies as an incentive to motivate and compensate employees, resulting in the fact that half of the new car registrations are nowadays made in the name of a company and that companies account for 10% of the Belgian car fleet. In many cases the company car can also be used for private trips. In addition, most costs related to the use of a company car are borne by the employer, turning company cars into a nearly free way of travelling for the employee. Research has already established that the yearly amount of kilometres driven with a company car is significantly higher than that of private cars (e.g., Hubert and Toint, 2002; De Witte et al., 2009). Consequently, the rising phenomenon of company cars and its impact on our daily mobility can no longer be ignored. The aim of this paper is to explore the travel behaviours of company car users to make recommendations towards policy makers. This paper uses cluster analysis to show that there is no such thing as the ‘typical’ company car user. Three types of company car users were identified, each using their company car for different reasons and therefore each requiring different policy actions.