There has been an overall increase of 2% in the leasing fleet, demonstrating vehicle availability continues to improve despite questions on used EV value, according to the BVRLA’s latest leasing outlook report assessing the EV transition.
Van growth is up 2.4%, outperforming cars despite seeing less of a recovery in vehicle lead times. After a low in 2021, BVRLA’s leasing fleet size has grown year on year, with the recent growth reaching its highest volume in half a decade, although the gap between business and personal demand is widening.
The total leasing fleet increase is on the backdrop of a growing gap between business (BCH) and private (PCH) customers. BCH has grown 4.4% year on year, bolstered by high electric vehicle uptake from salary sacrifice, which is up 55%. In Q2 2023, seven in 10 fleet additions via BCH were for plug-in vehicles (48% EV, 22% Plug-in Hybrid). Conversely, the personal sector has seen an 8.4% decline.
There are now over 20,000 used vehicles being operated within the BVRLA leasing fleet. From a low base, the sub-sector is growing rapidly, with more salary sacrifice schemes emerging that are offering used electric vehicles to provide drivers an affordable route into zero-emission motoring.
BVRLA Director of Corporate Affairs, Toby Poston, said: “The sector is again demonstrating its ability to adapt to changing market conditions to meet customer needs. Achieving growth in a turbulent market is no easy feat. The direction of travel towards electric vehicles is one way, with business users and company-provided vehicles leading the charge.
“Business customers benefit from fair taxation and incentives that aren’t replicated in the private market. This is pushing more private customers towards used electric vehicles, where growth of supply is vastly outpacing that demand. The impact of the Prime Minister’s decision to push back the ICE phase-out date is yet to be seen, but it is crucial that customer confidence in EVs is improved if the used EV market is to succeed.”
Image of Toby Poston from BVRLA
