GE Capital surveyed hundreds of executives of middle market companies to ascertain their views on the global and U.S. economies and their outlook on a variety of important economic, industry and business-level issues, including growth expectations and financing needs.
The survey examines opinions on financial performance, operational issues, and economic outlook from businesses in the fleet industry and compares them to overall sentiment from mid-market businesses across industries.
The most significant insights to emerge from GE Capital’s survey of leaders of U.S. middle-market firms include:
- Just under half of middle-market executives with fleet responsibility expect fleet costs to continue to rise, driven by maintenance expenses, fuel costs and vehicle acquisition/depreciation.
- Reducing fuel usage and maintenance expenses are seen as the greatest areas of opportunity.
- Staffing is also a challenge at these firms, as it is across the middle market. Increasing competition and government rules and regulations also pose a challenge for these businesses.
- The majority of executives with fleet responsibility have plans to add alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), but fewer than 5% have AFVs in their fleets currently.
Find out more about the Fleet Market Economic Survey.
