Fleet management and operating lease

In Europe new car sales somewhat decreased but in Hungary 15 percent more new cars were sold in the first nine months of 2012 than in the same period of 2011. Seven out of ten new cars sold are company cars and thanks to the changes in taxation, company car rental can now be as much as 22 percent cheaper. LeasePlan Hungária Zrt. is Hungary’s leading fleet and vehicle management company.

Tímea Pesti, the company’s commercial director told our magazine that outsourcing fleet management in the form of operating lease is not only a comfortable solution for firms but is cost-effective as well. Why? Because firms can write off rental fees as expenditure and reclaim the VAT as well if a mileage record is kept to prove the proportions of business and private vehicle usage. As opposed to this, if a company simply purchases vehicles, its money is tied up in the cars and it has to deal with all the matters related to owning cars – in the case of operating lease it is the service provider who takes care of everything. The commercial director is of the opinion that this solution already works well with a small number of cars, because the cars’ value is not included in the balance sheet and the monthly rental fee is simply included as expenditure. With this type of financing costs can be planned easily and accounting is simple as well. LeasePlan offers many solutions with the help of which partners can maintain employee satisfaction and at the same time reduce company car-related costs. For instance monthly costs can be cut by longer lease period durations or by selecting more economical models. A company Car Policy compiled by the fleet manager can also contribute to optimising costs. With the help of LeasePlan, companies can set up a customised company car policy in just 1-2 weeks, which meets all necessary criteria. LeasePlan’s experience is that straightforward communication and a few motivational elements are enough to motivate drivers for a more economical driving style. LeasePlan’s own WebService application makes everyday work easier for drivers with a user-friendly online service, where service and maintenance issues can be managed online. Lease Plan makes sure that service and maintenance work is done in the nearest garage, as rapidly as possible. LeasePlan has a Dutch parent company; in Hungary they have an almost one-third market share, providing lease and fleet management services to 400 partners with nearly 9,000 cars.