Fleet News unveils the 2023 FN50 at a sold-out dinner in London.
The UK’s 50 largest contract hire and leasing companies are collectively funding more cars and vans than ever before, according to the latest FN50 analysis by Fleet News.
The total risk fleet size of 1,746,526 represents a year-on-year rise of 2.1% (35,868 vehicles) which just sneaks past the previous record of 1,740,877 set in 2018.
Cars account for 74% (2022: 73%), a return to 2019 levels, after a rise of 3.9% to 1,291,658 while vans are down slightly year-on-year by 2.7% at 454,868.
For the first time in 15 years, there is a new name at the top: ALD Automotive/LeasePlan.
The newly merged company, which will rebrand next year as Ayvens, leapfrogs three rivals to knock Lex Autolease off the number one position held since its creation from the merger of Lloyds Autolease and Lex Vehicle Leasing in 2008.
Lex Autolease does retain one accolade, though: it still funds the most cars (201,437, which is 1,200 more than ALD Automotive/LeasePlan).
At 313,149, ALD Automotive/LeasePlan takes a 34,768-unit lead over second-place Lex Autolease.
Its amalgamated fleet size has dipped just a little, by 2.6%, or 8,297 vehicles, compared to the combined numbers individually reported by the two organisations in 2022.
Some loss is inevitable in such a large integration, but it has so far been kept commendable low.
As a comparison, Lex Autolease’s first-year combined figures were almost 40,000 lower than the sum of its two parts from the year before; in its second year, it suffered a further 30,000-unit drop, some of which was part of a decision to exit low profit contracts.
The UK’s new table topper is not the only merger in 2023.
Leasys has swallowed up Free2Move, as parent Stellantis begins to trim the number of competing brands it operates.
The Leasys name was retained as the funding brand due to its strength across key European markets, although Free2Move will continue to exist as a global mobility hub in Europe offering car services “from one minute to several months”.
Despite bringing together two companies that were ninth (Free2Move) and 15th (Leasys) in last year’s FN50, the merged company has actually dropped one place in the table to 10th due to a sizeable 33% drop in funded fleet size (almost 26,000 units).
Much of the deficit is due to a drop in vans.
New entrants and market share
This year’s FN50 contains three debutants.
Holman is the highest new entry, straight into the top 20 in 19th place on 11,484. In truth, it held off supplying figures last year as it was in the final stage of securing the BT contract.
Meridian Vehicle Solutions enters in 48th place with 504 vehicles while Adept Vehicle Solutions is one position lower on 235.
The ALD/LeasePlan merger has resulted in a significant rebalancing of market share when segmenting the FN50 into chunks.
The top 10, which last year accounted for 57% of total fleet size, now seizes 64% - its biggest ever share, eclipsing the 62% held in 2018.
These goliaths are now funding almost 150,000 more vehicles than a year ago.
In total, 34 of the 47 companies in last year’s FN50 have increased their fleet size, of which 11 enjoyed double-digit growth. Just 12 are funding fewer vehicles, with only Agnew unchanged year-on-year.
The biggest percentage growth came from Radius Vehicle Solutions in Northern Ireland (previously Traction Finance) at 89%, equating to almost 2,000 additional vehicles, taking its fleet size to 4,226.
It moves up nine places to 31st.
Underlining once again the massive appeal for salary sacrifice cars – a major reason why funded cars have experienced such a strong year - is the UK’s biggest specialist Tuskerdirect, now owned by Lloyds TSB but reporting separately from Lex Autolease.
Its fleet swelled by 10,710, a rise of 48%, to edge the company up two places to 12th on 32,842.
One place below is Select Lease by Mobilize (previously Mobilize Finance Services), which remains in 13th despite an equally impressive 42% rise in fleet size to 32,001. Its growth was a mix of cars (up 43%) and vans (up 40%).
Marshall Leasing continues to meet its parent Bank of Ireland’s hunger for growth with a 15% increase to 11,883. The company is almost double the size of when it was acquired six years ago.
While Marshall is no longer dealer-owned, one franchised division has enjoyed a strong 2023.
Lookers Vehicle Solutions moved up three places on the back of a 32% rise to 9,982.
Despite widespread commentary about leasing companies increasingly targeting the retail market to supplement their revenues, business funding took its highest share of the FN50 car fleet since 2018 at 84.7%, with retail dropping almost two percentage points on last year to 15.3%.
FN50 BY NUMBERS
1,746,526 – FN50 total funded fleet size
1,291,658 – number of funded cars
454,868 – number of funded vans
29,716 – number of funded trucks
431,854 – cars/vans under fleet management
340,018 – cars/vans under accident management
313,149 – biggest fleet (ALD LeasePlan)
144 – smallest fleet (Leasing Plus)
3 – new entrants
LCVs in the FN50
While light commercial vehicles overall suffered a dip year-on-year, two van-dominated leasing companies did see significant surges.
VMS Automotive Group is up 21%, with 6,000 of its 6,250-unit fleet consisting of vans. Though sitting in 27th place, it is the 13th largest funder of vans. Meanwhile Ford Fleet Management registered a 32% rise, taking its fleet to 3,737, of which 3,369 are vans.
Honourable mentions go to Liquid Fleet (up 11%), AMT Vehicle Rental (up 12%), Close Brothers Vehicle Hire (up almost 15%), Prohire (up 32%) and Leasing Plus which continues to prop up the table despite a 33% spike in fleet size.
Trucks in the FN50
While for 2023, the FN50 rankings are calculated on the car and van units, next year trucks will also be included.
Had this been the case for 2023, Close Brothers would jump 12 places to number 30 on the back of its 3,162 trucks (accounting for 71% of its total fleet), while Prohire would climb seven places to 38th thanks to its 1,463 trucks (61% of its total fleet).
In total, 14 companies reported trucks as part of their wider funded fleet, one more than last year. Reporting in 2022 but not 2023 were Grosvenor Contracts Leasing and AMT Vehicle Rental, replaced by Holman and Alphabet. The other addition is ALD/LeasePlan.
Zenith is by far the biggest; its 16,009 trucks (a slight drop of 125 year-on-year) account for 54% of the FN50’s 29,716 total (up 15% on 2022, almost 4,000 units).
There is a sizeable gap to the next highest, Novuna on 5,886. No other lender hits four figures.
The 2023 FN50 in detail
Read the full FN50 ezine report which includes insight into leasing profits, the biggest challenges facing the fleet sector over the next 12 months, CO2 emissions trends, replacement cycles, fines and charges funding methods, and fear wear and tear costs.
The 2023 FN50 Dinner
Fleet News' group editor Stephen Briers revealed key findings from our exclusive analysis of the leading contract hire and leasing companies in the UK at a dinner on November 1.
Pictures from the night
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Bauer B2B group editor Stephen Briers has been an automotive business journalist since 1995. He has been editor of Fleet News since 2009 and before that was editor of Automotive Management for almost seven years. He now oversees both brands, as well as RAIL magazine.
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