Whether it’s an upward curve or a regressive economic situation, the first question when choosing a company car is always exactly what kind of car I need. Today - if we also consider the engine variants - at the moment we can choose from more than 2,500 models. The following aspects are usually considered during the selection process:
What can we do if we are about to buy a company car in 2022? For the reasons detailed above, companies need to plan ahead so that they can ensure their mobility in 2022 on an ongoing basis. Delivery times for company cars have increased significantly over the past six months. The most popular company car models in Central Europe, such as the Skoda or Volkswagen, have a delivery time of up to 8-14 months. Nonetheless, Business Lease offers a number of solutions to ensure continuous mobility.
Planning a company’s mobility is always important, whether it’s a convenience car or an essential work car for the company’s operations. In the current situation, however, it is worth starting the company car procurement process much earlier than usual. Be prepared that for many popular models, it can take up to 12 months for us to pick up the car of your choice. Take the time to assess the company’s fleet of cars that need to be replaced and see if there are any overdue models among them. Let’s examine what possible new positions we need to plan for car acquisition. Overall, we will assess the company's car demand for the next year, the expiring car fleet, and the necessary improvements. What we had enough to do for 2-3 months in advance, is now worth doing 1 year in advance.
So far, the most important purchasing task has been to find the best company car offer within the given budget. However, the changing market situation today requires the fleet manager or purchasing staff to think about hidden sources and look for hidden sources in addition to the favorable offer.
In recent months, the stock car has come up more and more as a new category in connection with the purchase of a company car. The stock car offers companies a quick solution at the cost of some compromises. The advantage is that the company car can be picked up shortly after the order, even within two weeks. When choosing a stock car, however, expect some trade-offs to be made in terms of equipment and possibly color. However, in order to have immediate mobility, it is worthwhile to be somewhat flexible. The other condition for choosing a stock car is immediate decision-making. Companies with a longer lead time in the decision-making process have difficulty choosing a stock car because car showrooms expect an almost immediate decision and do not keep cars in reservation.
If you are planning to get a company car with equipment or technical parameters that is not in stock at any of the dealers, then there is no other solution than to order a car from production. There are models where all production capacity in 2022 has run out by January and the cars ordered will only be put into production in 2023. Important! In case of the most popular models, the dealers usually deliver for an extremely long period of time, but there is always a model on the market that provides us with an optimal alternative based on its equipment and technical parameters, often below the market price. Thanks to an ongoing consultation with importers, Business Lease’s sourcing team is up-to-date on current order status and is happy to advise on available models and manufacturer capacities.
For the transition period until the selected model arrives, we can choose a flexible mobility solution. From CarSharing to short-term leases like BusinessRent provided by Business Lease. We provide an immediate solution to your mobility problems, and it can be calculated with a predictable fixed budget. The rental car guarantees maximum flexibility from one month to up to a year.
As mentioned earlier, pre-planning is essential to ensure the continued mobility of the company, but we may choose a company car model in which delivery takes an extreme period of time. In this case, we are forced to continue using the existing car. If it concerns a self-owned company car, the value of the car might degrade and bring along higher service costs and fuel consumption.
In the case of a leased company car, it is worth negotiating a lease extension with the lease company. Business Lease customers will automatically be offered an extension, they do not need to request it separately.