Who is to blame for a fall in retail value of used small executives? Well, if you listen to the price experts at CAP its fleet managers that should shoulder their share of responsibility.

CAP is one of the leading providers of residual values data in the UK and has examined the fall in value of certain models in what is widely considered an especially tough marketplace. The BMW 3-Series in particular has seen its price slump by around four-five per cent from the CAP target price last month. By contrast, the market has fallen by 2.6 per cent.

This fall has been attributed to the large number of low-spec vehicles which are entering auctions. CAP argues that fleet managers should be doing more to prevent users from picking up the lowest rung of cars.

Robert Hester, Black Book valuations relationship manager at CAP, commented: “Fleet managers need to be very careful about specs. That’s particularly true with the 3-series: the ES is not too bad in itself, but put it out in a non-metallic you’re going to suffer at the back end.”

He continued: “Typically what happens is that on somebody’s company car list, the choice is between a reasonable-spec Mondeo or Passat, or a basic model 3-series or A4. They’re always going to go for the base model executives.

“It’s mainly the big fleets, the leasing companies. Smaller fleets can control it more, especially if the purchasing manager works closely with the disposal manager.”