FORMER Prime Minister John Major has forecast the number of company cars in the UK will increase, and dismissed as 'laughable' the Labour Government's plans for one-car families. He praised the concept of an integrated transport system as wonderful in theory, but said he was sceptical it would ever convince drivers to give up their cars in practice.

Major said people had simply become too accustomed to driving children to school, driving to work and driving to the shops. Speaking at the opening of Powermarque's new headquarters in his Huntingdon constituency, he predicted the company car had a bright future, with its popularity likely to grow.

'Company cars are very important and they are here to stay. Whatever the demands for a one-car family, companies need their executives to be mobile, and they need to offer the right packages to recruit and keep the right people,' he said. 'You will see an increase, not decrease in company cars of one sort or another.'

He believes the level of benefit in kind taxation is reasonable, and feels the company car is no longer undertaxed, although he conceded it was a 'very soft target' for a tax hit.