Independent leasing companies account for one third of the market

Autor: Ciprian Botea 04.04.2011

Independent leasing companies' turnover slid by 30-40% last year, above the market average, amid the companies' dependence on a certain car brand or tighter access to cheap funding.

Independent leasing companies last year granted funding worth around 400m euros, with their market share revolving around 35%, according to industry sources. They still account for more than a third of the market even though their turnover dropped two or three times faster than the average of the market, which contracted by 14% in 2010.

The leading position in the biggest independent leasing companies' ranking is held by Austria's Porsche Leasing, which in 2010 funded cars worth 89.5m euros, down 26% year-on-year. The company ranks third on the entire market, after UniCredit Leasing and BRD Sogelease.

As a matter of fact, four of the top ten companies on the leasing market are independent or controlled by car dealers and hold together a 20% market share. The number of top companies affiliated to banks is higher as they benefit from the brand power of a major bank and its sales force.

In the independent companies' ranking, Porsche Leasing is followed by Afin Leasing, Impuls Leasing and RCI Leasing.