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Who gets a company car benefit in Latin America?

On average, nearly seven in ten multinational companies in Latin America are offering car benefits to its employees, higher than the 42% or so offering this benefit in North America (United States and Canada) but lower than the 81% seen in Europe.

By country, the nation leading in vehicle perks is Brazil with 76% of companies providing this benefit, followed by Mexico with 74% and Peru with 71%, according to the latest Global Fleet Survey conducted in 2020 with the support of international consultancy firm Willis Towers Watson.

Countries falling under the average include Panama (67%), Puerto Rico (67%), Chile (66%), Costa Rica (64%), Argentina (63%), and Colombia (61%).
bar graph (copyright: Global Fleet)


Who receives benefits?

Senior leadership roles are typically always eligible for car benefits and these perks are also typically covered under sales positions as well as non-sales managerial and senior professional roles.

According to the survey, those mostly receiving a Company Car or cash Car Allowance from companies providing benefits in Latin America include Business Unit Heads and Country Managers, Executives, and Sales Managers.

More than nine in ten Business Unit Heads and Country Managers are receiving benefits, being 82% eligible for a company car and 12% eligible for Car Allowance.

This is followed by Executives of which 88% are receiving benefits (76% Company Car and 12% Car Allowance) and Sales Managers of which 74% are receiving benefits (56% Company Car and 18% Car Allowance.

Plan coverage drops considerably for non-sales professional roles: Approximately seven in ten organizations would typically not provide a car benefit to such roles, according to Willis Towers Watson Global Data Services Consultant Lisa Grunditz.

Lisa Grunditz (source: handout)
 

Meanwhile, seven in ten Middle Managers and Senior Professionals are receiving these perks (54% Company Car and 16% Car Allowance), 65% of Sales Professionals (50% Company Car and 15% Car Allowance), and 26% Supervisory and Professional (17% Company Car and 9% Car Allowance).

In Panama, just over four in ten organizations have a plan where non-sales professional roles are covered, while in Brazil this is only the case among 17% of companies. The majority of organizations provide plans where eligible employees receive the keys to a car and where there is no option to choose/receive cash instead.

“Taking a closer look at non-sales managerial and senior professional roles, we can see that Costa Rica is the country with the highest rate of companies offering cash with no option to select/receive a car across the region [42%],” says Ms Grunditz.

“At the other end of the spectrum you will find Puerto Rico where 86% of companies offer a car [without any option to choose/receive cash instead],” the consultant said. 

The Global Fleet Survey is based on the input of no fewer than 113 multinational companies, together representing 8.5 million employees and over 1 million vehicles. It analyses fleet and mobility policies those companies have deployed or are planning to implement.

Get full insights into the global fleet & mobility community and order your copy of the 60-page Global Fleet Survey now!

Authored by: Daniel Bland