Globally, four in five (80%) fleet drivers see size as the most important factor when choosing a new company car, a survey by LeasePlan UK has revealed.

The UK arm of the global fleet management company asked 3,000 drivers from 20 countries questions on what influenced their company car choice.

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The UK was no exception to this figure, as 76% of drivers in the UK said size was the most important factor. While size was important not everyone wanted a bigger car, as 29% of UK respondents said they drove a small car, with a further 11% planning to drive a small car in the future.

In the UK, low tax allowance and CO2 emissions was almost as significant as size, with 75% of UK respondents describing them as important.

While vehicle size was the number one factor in 15 out of 20 countries there were noticeable exceptions, as drivers in Brazil and Turkey both proved more aesthetically inclined.

Matt Dyer, managing director at LeasePlan UK, said: "Our research shows that decisions about which car to drive are governed by practicalities. Appearance will always matter but for an increasing number of company car drivers, reducing emissions is more important than looks. Amongst our UK respondents, CO2 emissions were joint second to low tax allowance, showing just how important environmental credentials are to drivers.

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"To meet the UK’s ambitious targets for CO2 emissions, we will need significant numbers of drivers to consider vehicles with lower emissions .We know that this is on the political agenda from George Osborne’s spring Budget when he pledged encouraging measures for a new generation of Low Emission vehicles by increasing company car tax more slowly than previously planned and I expect to see this trend increasing."