LEASING companies could be shutting themselves out of a one million vehicle fleet market by replacing personnel with computers to serve small companies.

Fleet funding and management firm CitiCapital Fleet claims small to medium-sized firms are being overlooked by fleet suppliers who attempt to serve this market via the internet rather than personal contact.

Yet with a third of the three million vehicle fleet market controlled by fleets of less then 25 vehicles, suppliers which abandon a human service in favour of online-based systems will struggle, says Colin Tourick, managing director of CitiCapital Fleet.

He said: 'Some small fleets are being pushed aside by the bigger industry players, for whom the overheads of servicing small to medium enterprises cannot be justified. Smaller fleets are used to developing close working relationships and want to deal with people at the other end of a phone line. They do not want the feeling they are poor relations, while leasing companies devote all their time to bigger, more lucrative clients.'

CitiCapital Fleet has launched CCF Direct, a phone-based service for fleets with less than 30 vehicles, often companies employing less than 50 people.