Well-organised fleets

Tímea Pesti, the commercial director of LeasePlan Hungária Zrt. informed Trade magazin that the commercial vehicle market has finally started growing. In 2010 new vehicle sales a hit a nadir but in 2014 sales were up 24 percent from the level of the previous year. Although 83,000 new vehicles were registered last year, the ideal number would be around 140,000. It is really good news that a growing number of companies – including more and more SMEs – decide to outsource their fleets as operative leasing isn’t only convenient but cost-efficient too. LeasePlan offers full operative leasing services that facilitate the 100-percent outsourcing of fleet management and financing. The popularity of their SafePlan product is also on the rise: this is basically the combination of an e-learning course and a driving style training, for safer and more economical vehicle use. András Varga, sales manager of Nelson Flottalízing Kft. told our magazine that operative leasing became more widely used after in January 2012 the VAT on the service’s monthly fee became reclaimable in the proportion of official vehicle use. About the company’s portfolio he told that 18-20 percent of the 1,200 vehicles belong to enterprises using 1-2 cars only. These small businesses have realised that by using the service they can get rid of lots of extra work related to owning and operating vehicles. Many enterprises are looking for premium-quality service and Nelson Flottalízing Kft. is able to satisfy their needs. Gyula Jancsó, B2B customer relations director of Opel Hungary revealed that Opel launched its special fleet programme last year, with many services including extended opening hours and discounts on fleet maintenance and repair. The company’s myOpelService scheme guarantees quick access to all the benefits of using official Opel service centres. Based on customer feedback Mr Jancsó sees expansion in the Hungarian leasing market, mainly due to SMEs purchasing vehicles and assets thanks the Central Bank of Hungary’s growth scheme, which contributed with HUF 103 billion to the full financed sum of HUF 453 billion. Opel offers models from 17 different vehicle lines and last year they sold 10,195 cars (in 2013 they sold 6,730 vehicles). According to István Zs. Nagy, the director of Merkantil Bank’s fleet division more and more companies want to get rid of vehicle-related operating risks. Merkantil’s fleet provides all services available in the market and these can be combined in a way to suit partner needs the most. Thanks to these personalised offers, customers don’t have to pay for services which they don’t really need. Mr Zs. Nagy’s experience is that new acquisitions are slowly transforming into cash-flow friendly solutions: operative leasing combined with full fleet management service. The director sees further development potential – in his view the system of reclaiming the VAT on the leasing fee needs to be simplified