New research by HR specialist Group S finds that men are favored over women for company cars. In Belgium, women drive company cars worth an average of €5,300 less than their male colleagues.

The average company car price for men is €49,000, compared with €43,699 for women. The average catalog price difference is 10,8% lower (€5,301).

A Partena Professional’s survey from September 2025 found that 17% of men considered a company car their preferred fringe benefit, compared with 12% of women. This supports the possibility of differing preferences but does not establish that preferences explain the observed price gap.

Gender gap

However, Belgium is far from alone in having a gender gap in company cars.

Dutch leasing giant Ayvens has identified a similar gap. At the same time, studies in Germany and France reveal that men are also considerably more likely to receive a company car in the first place and that their cars tend to be more expensive.

Ayvens Netherlands reported that Dutch company car catalog prices are €45,500 for men and €42,500 for women, a € 3,000 (23%) price gap.

The findings raise questions about how Europe’s company-car benefits are distributed, and whether new EU pay-transparency rules could expose inequalities hidden in employees’ remuneration packages.

Other European studies

A German study, Firmenwagenmonitor 2019, already documented this phenomenon seven years ago. Even within the broad management category, women’s company cars cost about 17.9% less than men’s, relative to the men’s average.

This does not establish discrimination against colleagues performing identical work, but it challenges the idea that the occupational category alone explains the entire gap.

Preferences

Recent French research provides an even stronger comparison. A February 2026 study by the French mobility think tank Forum Vies Mobiles reveals that 75% of French company-car beneficiaries are men. The study also supplies comparative figures for Belgium and Germany.

Ayvens also provides an interesting observation on vehicle preferences. Men more often choose larger SUVs and premium or performance-oriented models, while women more often choose compact, practical vehicles.

Yet both genders share many of the same model preferences: the Tesla Model Y ranks first for both, while the Tesla Model 3, Kia Niro EV, and Volkswagen ID.4 are also popular with both groups.

Source: Forum Vies Mobiles, February 2026. Country figures are not necessarily based on the same underlying reference year.

The graph above shows that 18.9% of economically active men have a company car, compared with only 9.1% of women.

The French study also found that around 70% of kilometers driven in French company cars were for personal purposes, with an average of approximately 5,200 professional kilometers annually. Its researchers argue that company cars often serve as remuneration and status benefits rather than strictly necessary work tools.

Remuneration

The independent evidence broadly supports Group S’s finding of a gender divide. However, no independent source identified so far reproduces the exact Belgian €5,301 price difference.

The EU Directive 2023/970 explicitly covers remuneration in cash or in kind, not merely wages. Company-car benefits therefore fall within the broader principle of equal pay. Employers must also report differences in supplementary or variable remuneration where the applicable reporting requirements apply.