Businesses downsize auto fleets

America's business owners are downsizing their auto fleets, reports a Dartnell Institute of Business Research survey. The institute surveys fleet owners bienially.

Though six-cylinder, intermediate-size cars dominate most fleets, the survey found that all fleet owners now have some four-cylinder cars, which wasn't the case two years ago. There are also a growing number of subcompacts and foreign cars being reported in fleets.

The survey also found that businesses are keeping cars in service longer before trading, with one-third of all fleet cars being 1979 models or older.