Vauxhall Director Backs Leasing Firms To Make Key Fleet Decisions

The Sales Director of UK automotive giant Vauxhall believes leasing firms will play a major role in the key decisions made by companies operating fleets in 2014.

Speaking to Fleet News, James Taylor said the industry is witnessing a strategic change where leasing companies are becoming more influential as outsourcing becomes more prevalent.

“We have seen this happen already in the public sector,” explained Taylor.

“SMEs are still ad hoc but in mid and large businesses we are seeing the decline of the traditional fleet manager role, partly through retirements and businesses being re-evaluated.”

“As a result, we are increasing our headcount to improve our relationships and partnerships with them.”

Vauxhall’s fleet base consists of 90% lease to 10% outright purchase by volume for cars, but a 70-30 split by customer numbers.

For vans, 75% of business is still bought outright compared to just 25% leasing, although this proportion is rising.

Mr Taylor added: “The change from three to four-year cycles has stuck on cars – we’ve not seen many change back. For vans, few are running less than four years; five years is increasingly common but some are at seven, eight and even nine years.”

Meanwhile, Vauxhall has announced that it is planning for a 5% increase in its fleet volumes in 2014.

Taylor told Fleet News that Vauxhall’s targeted share of “0.2-0.3%” of the true fleet sector this year would depend on the strength of the family car segment.