The BVRLA have released their Broker Survey report for the latter half of 2021. In it, the report states that the LCV broker fleet grew 3% year on year in 2021.
At the end of December 2021, 103,160 light commercial vehicles were listed on broker fleets. In other words, there were 103,160 LCVs out on lease with these brokers.
This is up from 100,575 at the end of 2020, a 3% increase.
When looking at the total vehicles, including cars and other commercial vehicles, the LCV fleet amounts to 26% of the total leased broker fleet, which is the same as in 2020 but slightly down on 2019 (28%).
Breaking this down further into finance types, the report shows that 67% of all leased LCVs are under Business Contract Hire, with only 25% taken through Finance Lease.
What is interesting is the difference in the results when we only look at the new contracts. Over the past 2 years, the percentage of BCH customers has fallen markedly, from 68% in 2019 to 53% by the end of 2021. Finance Lease has also fallen slightly, to 20% from 25% in 2019.
The difference, 28%, is made up by other options such as Contract Purchase, Credit Hire, and Lease Purchase.
Maintained Contracts, those with vehicle maintenance included, fell significantly over the past few years. Only 10% of new LCV contracts have included maintenance, down from 34% in 2019.
When looking at these numbers, it is important to take into account the state of the market and the wider world. The COVID pandemic had an impact on demand during 2020, and the semiconductor shortage crippled manufacture and supply. With these factors in the mix, it’s not surprising there are some big changes in leasing over recent years.
Van Ninja has worked hard to react correctly to the changes in the market, and have continually sought and sourced vehicles for lease. Leasing funders have also been added to account for a variety of customer circumstances, and Van Ninja are confident of managing the changes successfully.