“Global Fleet Survey shows clients want to lease EVs” says Volkswagen Financial Services
The 2020 Global Fleet Survey shows full-service leasing is still the preferred funding method globally. Jochen Schmitz of Volkswagen Financial Services confirms these findings, adding customers increasingly do require additional services. Get your own copy and find out all results in the 2020 Global Fleet Survey.
Order your copy of the 60-page Survey now!
1 million cars and LCVs
For the fifth year running, the Global Fleet Survey analyses the aims and intentions of multinational companies when it comes to their fleet and mobility strategies. It does so at length, in detail, with actionable insights and clear graphs. For this year’s edition, the Global Fleet Survey polled 113 multinational companies, representing 8.5 million employees and 1 million cars and LCVs.
We spoke with Jochen Schmitz (pictured), Head of International Fleet at Global Fleet Survey sponsor Volkswagen Financial Services, and asked him to comment on the findings presented in the following three graphs.
Respondents of the Global Fleet Survey 2020 cite full-service or operating leasing as the preferred funding method globally. What does the future hold for full-service leasing and how can customers rethink their long-term commitment to their leasing partners due to the uncertainty created by the pandemic?
“We can confirm these results. For many years already, our customers have been relying on at least one, but often several, additional service components in the leasing contract. This is not surprising because planning reliability and appropriate cost control are still essential for a well-managed fleet from a TCO perspective.”
“Currently, we do see the trend that companies demand more diversified fleet solutions. Moreover, some enterprises now want to make their functional vehicle fleet more flexible through long-term or short-term rentals – a trend that was already apparent before COVID-19. But this is no problem for us, because we have been covering this demand for many years.”
Price setting and price transparency are the main criteria for multinational companies when selecting a leasing partner, with reporting capabilities and global coverage following in the third and fourth spot. Do corporate fleets still look at leasing and financing too much as a commodity and what can you do to change this?
“On the contrary. Your survey shows that leasing and financing are seen as an important and therefore self-evident form of procurement. Leasing and financing are then accompanied by the quality criteria outlined in the survey. We are firmly convinced that we meet these through our global network and our broad range of services.”
Looking at new leasing initiatives, customers are much more in favour of EV leasing and cash allowances than solutions like the mobility budget, used-car leasing or private leasing. How do you see the uptake of new leasing forms on a global level?
“We are convinced that company cars and leasing will play a dominant role in commercial mobility in the future. We also see great potential in leasing electric vehicles, as this gives customers confidence in the new technology, allows them to participate in the rapid innovation cycles and means that they do not have to worry about used car marketing.”
“More and more of our customers want to have detailed information about electric vehicles and the necessary infrastructure they need to build up. Used-car leasing in combination with additional services will also continue to pick up speed. However, this depends on the market environment and the acceptance for leasing by the customers. Regardless of this, we still see potential in mobility budgets. However, these will generally supplement the existing mobility mix and thus do not compete with leasing.”
These are just three of the many graphs and analyses from the 2020 Global Fleet Survey. Order your copy of the 60-page Survey now!
Image copyright: Volkswagen Financial Services
