Why 80% of employees with a mobility budget skip the company car?

Many employers think their staff can't live without a company car. Reality tells a different story. Of the more than 10,000 employees managing a mobility budget through Mbrella today, a full 80% don't choose a car. They prefer to invest their budget in housing costs, public transport, or a bike. The numbers show that the company car is no longer the default once a flexible and valuable alternative is on the table.

The data: where is the budget going?

Looking at the hard numbers, we see the traditional company car losing ground to personal needs. Employees can freely distribute their budget across the three pillars, or combine them as they prefer. The breakdown of active budgets is clear:

• 80% of the budget goes to pillar 2: Sustainable alternatives like public transport, bikes and shared mobility, plus housing costs.
• 15% of the budget goes to pillar 1: A fully electric company car.
• 1% of the budget goes to pillar 3: Cash payout.

What stands out most is the huge share of housing costs. Employees spend no less than 3.5 times more on their rent or mortgage interest than on cars. The rest of the budget goes mainly to public transport, bikes and shared mobility.

Want to know more about what each pillar includes? Read the 3 pillars of the mobility budget explained.

Why housing is the new car

The popularity of housing costs often sparks debate. Does a mortgage belong in a mobility budget? The logic is simple: those who live within 10 kilometers of work drive fewer kilometers by car, or switch to public transport, bike or walking. This effect is especially visible in urban contexts like the Flemish Diamond, where the company car plays a less important role in mobility needs.

For employees living in the city, the car has often become a burden rather than a benefit. A young worker in Brussels or Antwerp benefits more from help with rent and a subscription to shared scooters than from a large SUV with no parking space.

By offering this freedom of choice, you align much better as an employer with the reality of your team. Read more about how housing costs work within the mobility budget.

The rapid rise toward 2027

The mobility budget is not a temporary trend. Growth is massive: at Mbrella, the number of active budgets rose from 352 in 2021 to more than 10,000 today. And the real peak is still to come.

Companies with more than 50 employees are expected to offer the mobility budget to employees entitled to a company car starting January 1, 2027. Companies with 15 to 50 employees will follow a year later. As companies prepare for this mandatory introduction, Mbrella sees growing interest in the mobility budget.

What does this mean for you as an employer?

For a fleet manager or HR director, this might sound like an administrative challenge, but the system is designed to be budget-neutral. The budget an employee receives is based on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the car that person would otherwise be entitled to. It costs the company nothing extra, while the employee gains more freedom. Calculate the TCO of your current fleet with our free TCO calculator.

Retention also plays a crucial role. Finding and keeping good people is a huge challenge today. An employee who can organize their own mobility and save hundreds of euros per month on housing costs is less likely to switch to a competitor offering only a standard diesel car. Replacing a departing employee often costs many times more than setting up a flexible mobility policy.

Start now or wait?

There's really no reason not to offer the mobility budget. People who genuinely need a car can still lease one within the mobility budget, albeit electric. For everyone else, there's now an attractive alternative.

Companies that start now have an important advantage: you can experiment, adjust, bring your people along. Those who wait until 2027 have to do it all at once under time pressure.

The data doesn't lie: today's employee doesn't want a company car, but a budget that fits their life.

Want to know what the mobility budget means for your company? Talk with one of our mobility experts and discover how you can start today.