“In Romania, the market is still developing and I believe it is still far from its potential, given the adoption of this service in the total fleet and the global trends of increasing outsourcing through full service and one stop shop solutions,” says ASLO President Dan Stefan.
In 2023, the increase in financing costs, insurance, maintenance, salaries and other services included in an operating lease instalment was between 15% and 90% in a single year. Most of these increases were absorbed by operating lease companies for outstanding, fixed-price contracts.
At the same time, the increase in car prices, which started in 2020 and has continued every year since then, including 2023, has put additional pressure on players in the sector. Thus, from 2020 to date, the average purchase costs of cars have also increased by more than 50% (depending on the class).
“(…) We expect the increase in costs to slow down somewhat in 2024 and the market to continue to grow,” the official added.
The Association of Operational Leasing Companies was established in 2010, with ALD Automotive, Arval Service Lease Romania, Autonom Services, Autotechnica Fleet Services, Business Lease Romania, LeasePlan Romania, New Kopel Romania (SIXT Group Romania), RCI Finantare Romania and UniCredit Leasing Fleet Management as members.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)