With over 1,000 small businesses surveyed, 52 per cent admitted to temporarily hiring out a vehicle for an important event or meeting.
The survey also revealed that bosses spend, on average, £102 per hire, with men more likely to hire a car for an event than women, with 44 per cent of female bosses choosing to hire a car as opposed to the 60 per cent of male bosses.
Younger businessmen and women are also more likely to hire out cars, with 58 per cent of 25-34 year olds opting to lease cars compared to the 28 per cent of business owners over the age of 55.
Londoners are the most likely to hire out a car for an event, also, with two-thirds of businesses in the capital choosing to hire. However, 67 per cent of companies in the south west choose to stick to their own cars, no matter what the occasion is.
Pete McAllister of Intelligent Car Leasing, the luxury car hire firm, believes the results of the survey are not surprising.
“As a company that deals in both long and short term business car leasing we have definitely seen first-hand evidence of executives hiring vehicles for an image boost. When it comes to presenting a high-profile image it’s all about the badge on the bonnet. Usually a high-end variant of either Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Range Rover or Audi is what people opt for to boost their credibility.”
“In essence, when business-people hire a vehicle to boost their image it’s about getting as high a value vehicle as possible at a low price for a short duration.
“Most people don’t directly tell us that they’re hiring one of these vehicles to look the part, but it’s fairly obvious from the criteria they set out when enquiring.”
