THE most popular method of obtaining company cars is contract hire, which has risen dramatically in the past year at the expense of outright purchase, according to the new Company Car Survey Report from Monmouth-based Alan Jones & Associates.

According to the survey of 147 companies operating an average fleet of 240 vehicles 57% of companies use contract hire - up 10% on last year - while the number of companies buying vehicles has dropped 6% to 36%. Of the companies using contract hire, 59% said they did so for administration ease followed by off-balance sheet funding and ease of budgeting, while companies which bought their cars said they did so for purposes of control and acquisition (39%).

The report is available from Alan Jones & Associates, Apex House, Wonastow Road, Monmouth, Gwent NP5 4YE. It costs £150.