There was a time, in the not too distant past, that you knew that your career had reached its high point when you had a high-end Ford Cortina proudly parked outside your driveway.
The concept of an executive car was first coined in the 1960s, describing cars that were targeted specifically at successful professionals and mid- to senior-level managers, often as company vehicles, but that were fast and flash enough to make people want them in their own right.
When it came to the Cortina, Ford marked out some of its more premium variants with the letter E on the end of the model’s name, standing for ‘Executive’. By the 1970s, Ford introduced the Granada as its flagship executive car in the UK, while Triumph had its 2000 and Vauxhall had its Carlton.
Executive cars were seen as the pinnacle of aspiration, but were also manufactured specifically as a business tool to allow their drivers to better exploit the evolving motorway networks of Britain with a more comfortable ride for longer journeys.
In keeping with their design as a car to be seen driving, however, they were also made to stand out from the crowd, in terms of appeal, looks and performance. Typically, early executive cars were made with engines between 2.0-litres and 3.5-litres in displacement, compared with the 1.6-litre engines of the average large family car.
As a result, executive cars could shift at a pace far and beyond those of your average saloon, and the idea of an executive vehicle quickly became a concept desired by many up-and-coming professionals in the 1960s and 1970s.
So widely recognised was the executive car as a symbol of success that even former Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman penned the poem ‘Executive’ in 1974, which read: “I am a young executive. No cuffs than mine are cleaner; I have a Slimline brief-case and I use the firm’s Cortina.”
Somewhere along the line, though, that all changed. Suddenly the Cortinas, Carltons and Rover P6s your grandparent’s generation would have associated with success found themselves playing second fiddle to a new range of Teutonic pretenders to the throne.
In 1975, the BMW 2002 was replaced by the original E21 3 Series, which sparked a phenomenon. Suddenly British motors were old hat and cars like the 3 Series became the sort of vehicle estate agents and salespeople dreamed of owning; the car your mother would coo over because it was “one of those fancy German cars”.
BMW, followed by Mercedes and later Audi, manufactured premium German cars for people who wanted to lead premium German lives, and suddenly these three marques came to dominate the executive car sector.
German cars dominate business sector
So it has remained for the past four decades or so, with executives most inclined to be seen behind the wheel of a high-end German car, owing to Germany’s reputation for building vehicles of excellent quality, with superb engineering and sports car-rivalling performance.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), some 1.4 million cars were sold to the UK fleet and business sectors last year alone. Of those, predictably, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz were the three biggest sellers, accounting for nearly 253,000 of those sales alone.
Audi’s sales were up 9.8 per cent over the previous year, while Mercedes’ were up by a hugely significant 22.9 per cent. BMW recorded the best figures of all last year, with nearly 37 per cent more cars sold to business fleets last year compared to 2014.
However, traditional fleet manufacturers like Ford and Vauxhall still in fact lead the numbers in terms of sheer volume. Yet from a desirability standpoint the Germans still stand way out in front, and as company car culture continues to evolve, traditional manufacturers are becoming increasingly left out in the cold.
Stewart Whyte, managing director of Fleet Audits, has worked in the company car business since the early 1980s and noted that the nature of fleet management has changed considerably in the past few years alone.
Speaking to the Financial Times, he said: “Typically, fleets were run by people with grease under their fingernails, but now they are often taken care of by human resources departments because the vehicle is seen more and more as part of the gross remuneration package.
“That has led to significant growth in the affordable premium sector, particularly for cars such as Audi’s A6 and A8, BMW’s 5 Series and the Mercedes-Benz E Class.”
It’s not just simply a case of companies deciding to be generous to their staff which has precipitated the ever-increasing domination of German cars over the executive vehicle class, however. Instead, premium cars often make much better financial success than other models, despite being more expensive.
For a start, premium German cars tend to retain their resale values much better than any Ford or Vauxhall vehicle, thanks in no small part to that public perception of German build quality, luxury and reliability.
In fact, it’s this that BMW’s corporate sales division attributes to its rising executive sales successes, as fleet managers realise that even if they spend a little more up front they’ll lose much less money in the long run when it comes time to renew their vehicles.
Combined with the favourable interest rates of the current financial climate and companies can get much better returns on their purchases when their contracts come to an end. As an example, a BMW X3 has a residual value of 50 per cent of its original price after three years, whereas a less premium brand would devalue much more sharply.
That famed build quality also means that German cars have longer service intervals and reduced maintenance costs, meaning that a modern premium car generally won’t cost that much more over its lifetime than a more basic car 15 or 20 years ago.
Fuel efficiency has always been a concern for executive cars, particularly from the beginning of the 1970s when the fuel crises hampered the sales of many brands who had attempted to cash in on the executive segment but who didn’t have the financial strength to power through the oil crisis.
Although it killed off many would-be competitors, environmental awareness has had a surprisingly beneficial impact on premium fleet cars, particularly given that technology designed to reduce harmful emissions often proves more effective in larger cars. This leads to lower road tax and, in some cases, reductions of benefit-in-kind tax by as much as five per cent.
Change in the executive market
But where does the future lie for the current kings of the executive car market? In the same way that once-popular cars like the Ford Cortina were replaced by more premium German cars, could those same Germans soon be replaced by even more powerful and luxurious motors?
Just as vehicles like the Carlton, P6 and Cortina became the standard option for business drivers and marques like BMW and Mercedes providing a more upmarket, flashier alternative, manufacturers like Maserati could now be poised to steal the Germans’ crown.
In particular, the new diesel-engined Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte models have now given brands like Maserati their first real opportunity to present a serious offer to fleet managers and drivers.
Like premium German cars were faster, more expensive and more desirable than Fords, Vauxhalls and Rovers, Maseratis are by comparison faster, more expensive and more desirable than BMW, Mercedes and Audi vehicles.
And, if fleet managers can comfortably spend their fleet budgets on high-end German saloons for a relatively affordable price, could stretching that budget a little further see increasing numbers of professionals now behind the wheel of a Maserati?
According to Peter Denton, Maserati’s regional manager for northern Europe, the answer is yes. He said: “We established a fleet structure within the UK Maserati team a little more than two years ago and that required a new approach from within our dealer network that, previously, was used mainly to the retail supply channel.”
Maserati admits that it still has some ways to go until it’s truly capable of offering cars to the wider executive market, but stated that last year a full 40 per cent of its business was generated through fleet deals.
From there, where do things go? Could we be on the cusp of a new era of executive super-saloons and hyper luxury options where successful professionals haven’t truly made it until they’re behind the wheel of an exclusive Italian sports car? For all his wisdom and wit, it’s not likely that even Sir John could have called that one.