British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) membership numbers continued to rise during 2019, ending the year with 1,007 organisations, up 2% on the previous year.

Last year, more rental, leasing and fleet management, commercial vehicle and associate members joined the BVRLA, while it also welcomed members to its new Fleet Operator category.

Leasing broker numbers reduced slightly, however, largely due to consolidation in the sector.

The total BVRLA fleet size grew modestly during 2019, with members collectively responsible for just over 5.1 million vehicles, up 2% year-on-year.

BVRLA chief executive Gerry Keaney said: “We are delighted to have seen another year of growth at the BVRLA, in what has been a difficult year for the wider automotive industry.

“As well as seeing continuing growth in personal leasing, we have also seen an increasing trend in the number of commercial vehicle operators looking to the rental and leasing sectors for more cost-effective, cleaner transport solutions.

“Although we expect 2020 to continue to bring its challenges, our industry will remain resilient; embracing opportunities, adapting business models and changing the make-up of their fleets to meet their customers’ needs.”

The latest BVRLA membership figures show that cars continue to be the most dominant vehicle type on fleet, up 1.5% at over 4.1 million. The number of vans and trucks on fleet also continues to grow, with both the LCV and HGV fleet sizes increasing by 4% and 1.5% respectively.

The size of the short-term rental fleet continued to grow at a stable but modest rate of 1%, in line with the previous year, with just under 480,000 units. A slight reduction in the size of the rental car fleet was offset by an increase in the commercial vehicle rental fleet. 

Personal leasing contracts continued to represent the highest level of growth in 2019, up 6% year-on-year, accounting for over 2 million vehicles. The number of personal contracts taken out on both cars and LCVs grew, whilst HGVs saw a small reduction.

This was mirrored by FN50 data for last year’s survey, which showed that private/retail now accounts for 18% of the FN50’s car risk fleet, up from 12.8% in 2018.

There was no change to the total number of business contract hire vehicles on fleet at the BVRLA, remaining static at around 2.6 million, with a modest reduction in the size of the car fleet being offset by an increase in commercial vehicle business leasing.

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