The biggest influence on the total cost of ownership tends to be depreciation.

Over a 40-year life cycle of a building, the cost of operations will likely exceed 70 percent of the total cost of ownership.

Thorough use of a group of shared vehicles, locally parked, rented by the hour, means fewer cars parked on the streets, fewer cars wastefully produced and less cost of ownership.

But new research suggests that buyers could be losing out on thousands of pounds by not taking into account the overall cost of ownership when choosing their new car.

Fidelity now wants to see an industry standard measure, called the 'total cost of ownership', so that investors can more easily compare what they are paying.