CONSOLIDATION will continue to grip the contract hire market in the UK as companies gear up to compete for pan-European business. A new report by Datamonitor - 'European Car Leasing Company Profiles: Benchmarking 75 Leading Lessors' - reveals the market is changing rapidly as potential new markets emerge.

Arriva Automotive Solutions has recently been bought by General Motors Acceptance Corporation as it eyes opportunities for European expansion and BCH Vehicle Management has been sold to the leasing division of Deutsche Bank, again as a step towards pan-European growth. According to Datamonitor, consolidation and the emergence of the multi-marque manufacturer contract hire companies is changing the structure of the industry, with Europe's major contract hire companies scaling up their operations to tender for international business.

Datamonitor claims the pan-European leasing market is growing rapidly in value but losing participants as economies of scale create competitive advantages for the largest players. Meanwhile, manufacturer captives, once considered as only a further mechanism of sales, are now internationally significant lessors, mirroring the vast geographic presence of their parent organisations and benefitting from their deep pockets.