The fortunes of European auto lenders and vehicle manufacturers have diverged in recent months. While OEMs and importers have seen new vehicle sales decline, leasing companies have made a series of good news announcements.
In the powerhouse of the continent’s manufacturing base, Germany, 75% of companies are postponing, relocating, or entirely cancelling planned domestic investments. Bureaucracy, energy costs, and the impact of US tariff policies have combined to dent industry confidence, according to a survey by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA).
There’s little to celebrate in the continent’s new car market, which was down 1.9% year-on-year in January, although BEV registrations soared 38%. The exception was Tesla, which saw its sales slump by 45%, a victim of the upcoming model changeover of the Model Y, as well as a reported backlash against its owner, Elon Musk.
Europe’s used car market has started to settle after recent highs, but international leasing company Arval still reported an impressive set of figures for 2024, increasing its fleet size by 5.6% to 1.8 million vehicles and growing its revenues to €19,669.3 million.
Arval’s survey of 8,061 company fleet and mobility decision makers in 28 countries found 37% plan to introduce or increase their use of full-service leasing in the next three years, 55% intend to install workplace or depot charge points, and 50% support company car drivers to install a wallbox at home.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has acknowledged this role that leasing companies can play in decarbonising Europe’s light commercial vehicle fleet (a long-running campaign by Leaseurope) with the grant of a €350 million loan to international leasing giant Ayvens.
This is the EIB’s first green loan to finance electric light commercial vehicles (eLCVs), and will support the rollout of 19,000 new battery-powered vans over the next three years, primarily in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. The new agreement involves a €350 million credit envelope on favourable terms, matched by a €350 million co-investment by Ayvens.
Light commercial vehicle volumes tripled last year at Leasys, the joint venture owned by Stellantis and Crédit Agricole Personal Finance & Mobility. Leasys now manages 906,000 vehicles and is steadily moving towards its target of managing one million vehicles by 2026.
As the used market normalises, Leasys has developed a reconditioning centre in Milan for ex-lease cars. The company’s used vehicle leasing product, Leasys RE-USE, has secured more than 1,500 customers in Italy since its launch in 2023.
The European Commission is keen to support cheaper leasing for zero emission cars, and will promote the adoption of social leasing schemes for both new and used electric cars as part of its automotive Action Plan.
The Commission has also published a ‘Communication on clean corporate fleets’ designed to accelerate the uptake of zero emission cars and commercial vehicles among larger businesses, which include leasing and rental companies, as well as company cars, OEM in-house fleets, and taxis, logistics firms, buses and trucks.
Accessing data from these vehicles to support predictive and preventative maintenance, and to give leasing companies more detailed insight into vehicle usage, should become easier under draft legislation proposed by the Commission.
