Nearly half of all fleet cars being defleeted are now diesel, with values staying high despite worries they were coming under pressure.

According to Manheim’s latest edition of Market Analysis, diesel variants now account for 46% of all fleet vehicles coming into the used market compared to 39% of total market registrations – illustrating the popularity of diesel in the company car sector.

And diesels are being defleteed with substantially higher mileages: 65,000 miles compared to 42,000 miles for petrol cars, despite being five months younger at 39 months on average.

Apart from small cars, petrol models also perform worse as used cars in percentage-of-cost-new terms.

Manheim’s group communications director Rob Barr said: “It’s clear that while the volume of diesels coming back from the fleet sector is increasing, prices are still holding up.

“Our research shows that more retail motorists are actively seeking out used diesel models as they understand the inherent fuel consumption benefits and longevity that diesels offer.

“The diesel technology is also so much more refined than it was a few years ago.

“Fortunately, market demand seems to be moving in line with the increased supply of used diesels, particularly from the fleet sector, which is keeping prices relatively strong.”

Reacting to the report, the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association said that despite recent gloomy reports of cars with unrealistically high reserve prices being held in stock for long periods, Manheim’s research paints an entirely different picture.

Director general John Lewis said: “It is plainly critical to the disposal process that members sell vehicles as quickly as possible and to aid that, they have to set realistic reserves.

“Given the latest set of numbers from Manheim, it appears that they are doing just that.

“What does this mean for customers? It means better than ever value from BVRLA members for any full risk option such as contract hire.”