Description

The Irish vehicle leasing industry is experiencing headwinds amid the uncertainties associated with Brexit. Consumers are changing their preferences in acquiring new vehicles as a result of falling residual values of old vehicles. This trend has curtailed vehicle trading; however, the effect on fleet registration is different when compared to retail sales. Brexit is expected to impact the future of the fleet market in Britain. It is also set to impact the tariffs imposed on goods crossing the EU border, resulting in increased import costs. Thus, as trading between Ireland and Britain has become more restrictive after 2019, confidence levels among retail and corporate customers in Ireland are expected to be impacted and reflect in total new vehicle registrations.

Vehicle leasing is seen as a solution to the growing number of challenges faced by companies with regard to their mobility needs. Amongst others, these include challenges associated with vehicle funding, fleet maintenance, and more importantly, residual risk handling. Businesses in the present market conditions are focused on their core products/services and seek to outsource all other support activities. Mobility is a significant department—starting from fleet purchase to remarketing at a competitive price—and for each segment in the value chain, unless an expert team is on the job, issues such as cost spikes, utilisation mismatches, irregularities in fleet maintenance, and risks of dips in residual value can crop up.
Leasing the fleet enables hassle-free mobility, on-demand mobility, and fleet after-service facilities amongst other benefits. This has driven the growth of the leasing market, given it a structure, and regulated the ecosystem. This study sheds light on the market size across passenger vehicle (PV) and light commercial vehicle (LCV) segments and provides sales/parc data for the total market and fleet and company car (true fleet) segments. The company car segment is discussed in detail, with a focus on the actual development and the growth potential of financial leasing, operational leasing, and outright purchase. The analysis takes into account historical data and current market conditions and insights and opinions from market participants to provide a five-year outlook on growth opportunities. In addition to market data (PV and LCV) for new registrations and portfolio, the study provides actual competitor data (portfolio) for the leading leasing service providers in the country.

Competitor data is available for both the leasing segments (operational and financial) for the base year, 2018. The evolution of any industry depends on factors such as transformational trends that are linked to the macro-economic factors of the region and the emerging business models that reflect innovation in mobility solutions, such as rental, car sharing, integrated mobility, and alternative powertrains. The study covers these evolutionary trends that are expected to shape the market. For leasing providers and other companies that share the leasing ecosystem, interest lies in the growth opportunities that they need to leverage and the strategic imperatives that aid in their pursuit of growth and success. Overall, the study provides a 360-degree understanding of the leasing space (region-specific) and offers a detailed account of the key trends, market overview, and outlook.