BVRLA News
www.bvrla.co.uk January/February 2013
The newsletter of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association
Rental and leasing: reasons to be cheerful by John Lewis Squeezed between an austerity government and a struggling Eurozone, the UK economy is going nowhere at the moment. In contrast, the vehicle rental and leasing industry continues to make steady progress, with more and more companies and individuals relying on it for their road transport needs. In an uncertain business environment, where general funding is in short supply and the cost of running vehicles continues to rise, BVRLA members provide a very attractive source of fixed-cost, risk-free finance and pay-as-you-go motoring. This is reflected in our latest membership data, which reported an increase in rental, leasing, commercial vehicle and leasing broker members in 2012. The combined BVRLA member fleet starts 2013 at 2.75 million vehicles, having risen 9% over the last year to its highest ever level. These figures were boosted both by the addition of new fleets, and by existing members seeing solid growth. BVRLA members will continue to be a mainstay of the new car market in 2013 and a reliable source of business for manufacturers who will struggle to cope with volatile retail demand.
This is why we expect new fleet car registrations to continue their recovery with slow but steady growth, driven by greater penetration into the small and mediumsized enterprise market, where vehicle leasing and rental is increasingly popular – particularly among younger businesses. The continued popularity of salary sacrifice schemes with larger corporate customers will also make a valuable contribution. New business car tax thresholds will continue to have their desired effect, pushing average fleet emissions down, probably by another 3 or 4%. Fleets will review their policies and move emission caps to 130g/km CO2, giving an advantage to manufacturers with a comprehensive range of models below that level. The slump in van registrations towards the second half of 2012 was a surprise, especially as it was offset by a strong rise in truck registrations. We expect steady growth in both sectors next year, with operators pulling forward fleet replacements to avoid the EURO VI emissions standard. Much of this will be financed by BVRLA members, with manufacturers seeing a rise in demand for contract hire as operators seek more control over their cash flow, no residual value risk, and added-value services such as maintenance and telematics. n
The annual general meeting of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association Ltd will be held at 9.30am on Thursday, 16 May, 2013 at the association’s offices at River Lodge, Badminton Court, Amersham, Bucks HP7 0DD for the following purposes:
Annual general meeting
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To receive the Chairman’s report. To receive the report of the Committee of Management. To receive the report of the auditors. To elect the Committee of Management. To elect auditors and arrange their remuneration.
By order of the Committee of Management. John Lewis, Chief Executive
In this issue Lobbying eases van approval burden BVRLA lobbying has succeeded in exempting minor van modifications from tough regulations coming this Spring page 2 Finance Bill: major tax changes set for April The Finance Bill, implementing last year’s Budget, is set to have a major impact on vehicle rental and leasing page 3 Strength in numbers The economy may have gone nowhere in 2012, but vehicle rental and leasing had a pretty good year page 6 The shape of car rental to come… As concerns grow about rising costs, increasing urban congestion and air pollution, new models of pay-as-yougo motoring are starting to appear page 9 Fair wear and tear: new LCV standard The BVRLA’s updated Industry Fair Wear and Tear Standard for light commercial vehicles is now on sale page 11
— Promoting responsible road transport since 1967 —