Speaking at last week’s ACFO Conference, Foden said hybrid is the growth area but added that there would be room in the fleet parc for traditional internal combustion engine and electric-powered vehicles.

Peugeot, which is at the forefront of hybrid vehicle development, plans to introduce “hybrid air” technology in 2016, with Foden explaining that mating a diesel engine and air compression would deliver a car with CO2 emissions of 69g/km and fuel economy of 97.4mpg.

‘It is something for the future, but will be here in a couple of years’ time,’ said Foden.

Legislators in Whitehall and Brussels are driving manufacturers to produce vehicles with ever lower emissions to meet taxation and environmental requirements, but Foden predicted that electric vehicle sales in 2020 would be around 4-5%, half what was previously forecast by some experts, due to infrastructure and range anxiety issues.

He promised that manufacturers would introduce hybrid light commercial vehicles as well as cars.

Additionally, Foden predicted that the traditional fleet vehicle ownership model was under threat from vehicle mobility schemes, such as the Mu solution launched by Peugeot.

Peugeot bills Mu as the ‘ultimate mobility solution’, with customers able to rent a vehicle, scooter or bike for a specific journey.

Foden said: ‘Over the next 12 months Peugeot will expand the Mu scheme to present a corporate solution for fleets in major cities in the UK to drive down their CO2 footprint and save costs.

‘The traditional ownership model is under threat with fleets able to rent the right vehicle for the right journey and that will drive down their CO2 footprint and save costs.’