Commercial Fuel Cards in Europe: Obstacles and Opportunities

Publication Date	June 2006
Publisher	Datamonitor
Product Type	Report
Pages	25
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	DAT00459

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Summary

Introduction

As many of Europe's commercial fuel card markets reach saturation point there is a need to identify untapped investment potential. This brief highlights the markets and segments offering the greatest opportunity for fuel card business growth and examines customer attitudes towards card usage, the key competitive obstacles and provides suggestions on how they can be overcome.

Scope

A comprehensive overview of fuel card volume sales, market value, network penetration and brand awareness across 18 European countries.
An understanding of fleet manager attitudes towards fuel cards, contact channels and providers' customer service performance.
A quantitative comparison of the competitive dynamics that currently drive Europe's five key untapped fuel card markets.
An in-depth assessment of the obstacles to successful entry that exist in the main fuel card markets and practical suggestions on how to surpass them.

Highlights

Europe's fuel card market has genuine untapped potential. The regional fuel card market was worth EUR56 billion in 2004, 54% of which was concentrated in countries where commercial oil card volumes accounted for less than a fifth of national fuel sales.

Former state incumbents provide a notable barrier to new entrants. With a 40% acceptance rate across all Spain's petrol stations, Repsol's card network coverage is over two times larger than nearest rival Cepsa. Repsol also has the lion's share of the Spanish oil card market with a 60% volume share.

Poland provides the best opportunity for fuel card market penetration. Uncertainty surrounding the quality of PKN Orlen's fuel card customer service provides an opportunity for new entrants and existing providers to challenge its dominance. Some 36% Polish managers could not name the best card provider in their market.

Reasons to Purchase

Evaluate Europe's commercial fuel cards markets by volume and sales value whilst identifying those with the greatest untapped potential.
Identify potential barriers to operating successfully in key fuel cards markets and establish appropriate strategies to overcome them.
Gain insight into the European competitive landscape including sector concentration and average network coverage of the major oil card providers.

Content

Catalyst
Summary
Methodology
Analysis
- Poland provides the best opportunity for fuel card business growth
- Poland's fuel card market has the greatest untapped potential, but time is of the essence
- Quality customer service is the key to unlocking Poland's potential
- Uncertainty over the merits of PKN's fuel card provision provides an opportunity
- Successful entry into Poland could be achieved via telecoms channels
- The Repsol brand represents a formidable barrier to entry into Iberia
- Any attempt to compete with Repsol in Iberia must be on the basis of customer service
- Successful entry into Spain and Portugal would require people on the ground
- The majority of Iberian fleet managers have not been approached by a fuel card provider
- Supermarket strength undermines the potential to develop a fleet fuel card proposition in France
- Untapped potential in Italy's fuel market is limited by a wider averseness to commercial card use
- Former state incumbents provide a notable barrier to new entrants
- PKN Orlen remains key adversary to potential Polish entrants
- Repsol is the dominant Spanish fuel card provider
- Galp's fuel card market share reflects its Portuguese incumbent status
- Agip dominates Italy with a critical 25% network penetration
- Total controls the lion's share of French fuel card volumes
- Europe's fuel card market has genuine untapped potential
- Core untapped markets have divergent characteristics requiring different entry strategies
- Fuel card penetration varies significantly across Europe
- An all round package is key to being a successful European fuel card provider
- Shell and BP provide a large obstacle to any provider looking to enter Europe's fuel card market
- A significant proportion of non-fuel card users perceive their company to be too small to benefit from using a provider
- Europe's 56 billion fuel card market has untapped potential
Appendix
- Extended Methodology
- Datamonitor's 2005 fleet survey targeted fleet managers across 5 European markets
- In total the sample includes 1,474 responses across the 5 markets and 5 segments
Further reading
- Ask the analyst
List of Figures
- Figure 1: Polish fuel card market overview versus the European average
- Figure 2: Question: You have chosen PKN Orlen as the best Polish fuel card provider, why is this the case?
- Figure 3: Question: Which fuel card provider do you believe is the best in the Polish market?
- Figure 4: Question: Which is your preferred channel of contact?
- Figure 5: Question: Who would you say are the three main fuel card operators in your market?
- Figure 6: Question: You have chosen Repsol as the best Iberian fuel card provider, why is this the case?
- Figure 7: Question: Which is your preferred channel of contact?
- Figure 8: Question: Have any fuel card providers approached you over the last 12 months?
- Figure 9: Market share by fuel volume sales, 2004
- Figure 10: Commercial card use in Europe's five largest fuel markets, 2004
- Figure 11: Network acceptance and Volume market share
- Figure 12: Network acceptance and Volume market share
- Figure 13: Network acceptance and Volume market share
- Figure 14: Network acceptance and Volume market share
- Figure 15: Network acceptance and Volume market share
- Figure 16: Untapped fuel card markets: concentration versus coverage
- Figure 17: Active fuel cards per CRT and fleet vehicle
- Figure 18: Question: You have chosen Shell as the best card provider, why is this the case?
- Figure 19: Question: Who would you say are the three main fuel card operators in your market?
- Figure 20: Question: What is the main reason for not using a fuel card?
- Figure 21: Europe's fuel card market by value, 2004
- Figure 22: Responses, by market and segment
- Figure 23: Country-specific value, vehicle and volume breakdowns