A continued decline in EV residual values is expected next year by 64% of rental and leasing companies, according to the BVRLA.
The industry body has published the finding in its new Industry Outlook Report for 2026.
The report states that rental and leasing companies would like to see their concerns addressed via the introduction of supportive measures for the used EV market. However, BVRLA chief executive Toby Poston noted in his speech to the organisation’s Industry Outlook Conference yesterday (Thursday, 4 December) that this was not forthcoming in last month’s Budget.
Poston said: “[The Chancellor] spent billions of pounds on new vehicle incentives, but nothing on the used market.
“The big lesson from this particular disappointment is that the automotive industry is not always united, and when the chips are down, the government will nearly always prioritise the manufacturers, particularly when it involves UK jobs.”
Poston did praise some other elements of the Budget, such as the preservation of car salary sacrifice schemes and a raised threshold for the VED expensive car supplement on EVs, while also criticising elements such as the new pay-per-mile EV tax plan.
Salary sacrifice was the subject of one of the other, more positive findings from the Industry Outlook Report research, with 90% of leasing companies forecasting salary sacrifice growth among large corporate customers next year. This confidence is said to be based on cheaper EVs, heavy discounting, and increasingly the offer of used EVs.
The research also found that the business contract hire market is generally expected to be stable, although 42% of leasing companies expect growth from large corporates, and 48% of brokers forecast growth from SMEs.
On a more negative point, 63% of companies surveyed forecast a deterioration in the wider economy.
