Brussels, 25 October 2011 – Leaseurope, the trade association representing the European leasing and automotive rental industry, has released European leasing market figures for the first semester of 2011.
The European leasing market continued to gather pace during the first half of the year, with total new volumes growing by 10.1% compared to the same period a year ago [1]. New equipment and vehicle leasing volumes increased by nearly 11.2% in the first half of 2011compared to the same period of 2010. Vehicle leasing on its own expanded by 11.3%, which is slightly more than the growth in new equipment leasing volumes (+10.5%). Real estate leasing showed a moderate increase, gaining 1.9%.
At regional level, the performance of the various markets was positive, with the exception of the Mediterranean cluster, where new volumes decreased significantly across all types of assets segments. New business in the Russian leasing market was particularly robust and contributed significantly to the strong overall performance of equipment leasing. If figures for the United Leasing Association of Russia, which joined Leaseurope recently, are excluded from the total, European equipment leasing volumes grew only marginally, gaining 0.8% compared to the first half of 2010. On the other hand, vehicle volumes in all countries excluding Russia remained strong, improving by 10.1%.
Leaseurope’s Chairman, Jukka Salonen (CEO, Nordea Finance) welcomed this improvement in the European market: «Leaseurope’s latest figures show that European lessors have been able to make the most of the economic recovery in the first half of the year. Vehicle leasing has literally been the driving force behind the positive development in the overall market, while equipment leasing in the EU was influenced by continued cautiousness in companies’ investment spending».
Looking to the second half of the year, concerns surrounding the European sovereign debt crisis and fragile business confidence are likely to have a dampening effect on European economic prospects. European lessors will have to navigate through this challenging environment. Jukka Salonen comments further that «ensuring sustainable levels of profitability will be the necessary condition for the leasing industry to secure funding going forward. This means that leasing companies will have to adjust their business models to meet new market demands». Source: Leaseurope Back to Projects List 
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