The business fleet leasing market covering cars and light commercial vehicles has grown by 7.6% year-on-year to 1.35 million units, new figures from the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) have revealed.
Figures from Q2 in the latest Quarterly Leasing Survey carried out by the body shows the car portion of the market grew by 2.4% to 979,000 units compared with the same period last year. This increase was outstripped by the van sector, which grew by 14.9% during the period to 371,000 vehicles.
According to the BVRLA, year-on-year growth in both segments slowed compared with 2016’s figures with the business fleet leasing segment shrinking by 1%.
Total car leasing, meanwhile, grew by 8% year-on-year, a slight decline compared with the 11% growth seen in the first quarter of this year, with the fleet body putting much of this growth down to the booming personal contract hire (PCH) segment.
The BVRLA added that the PCH market increased by 36% year-on-year and 7% quarter-on-quarter.
Average CO2 emissions for newly registered leased cars increased by 1g/km of CO2 to 111.8g/km of CO2 compared with the previous quarter, and by 0.7% compared with the same period in 2016. The organisation put this rise down to an increasing share of PCH vehicles within BVRLA member fleets.
According to the BVRLA, the average PCH car emits 120g/km compared with the 111g/km of those on contract hire.
Despite the small rise, the BVRLA claims the average newly registered member lease car has average emissions that are 8% lower than the overall new car market.
“Personal contract hire continues to drive growth in the car leasing market and this is having a clear impact on the automotive industry’s long-term goal of reducing CO2 emissions,” said Gerry Keaney, BVRLA chief executive. “Company cars are cleaner than the average privately procured car, and the government should be supporting this market with a progressive company car tax regime that doesn’t encourage people to do their own thing.”