Armchair leasing for company car drivers in next 10 years?

PERSONAL contract purchase schemes are set to change the shape of the fleet industry as more and more fleet drivers opt out of receiving a company car, says Richard Pepper, chief executive of BCH Vehicle Management.

He foresees a boom in PCPs and predicts that, with new technology, contract hire companies will be able to target car buyers in their homes through digital television and the Internet without needing to market their services through employers.

'The Internet will change our limits. The contract hire market runs on information, and that information will be used to produce products that build the personal contract purchase market. In 10 years' time, there will be very few corporate customers in the UK. Individuals will have their own arrangements and contracts at corporate rates.

'We will be able to make savings to offer low prices because everything will be done electronically, so there will no longer be the massive cost of processing invoices.'