Most leasing contracts for passenger cars

In Slovenia, leasing is relatively stable and widely recognized, and is established in natural persons, buyers of passenger cars and also in companies. For many years, the leasing structure remains more or less unchanged.

The biggest difference between the Slovenian leasing market and the developed European markets is that in Slovenia the proportion of natural persons between the leasingers of passenger cars is much higher and, on the other hand, in companies that opt ​​for leasing vehicles, operational leasing is present to a much lesser extent. The advantage of leasing compared to credit is faster and easier to obtain financing, and leasing houses are also more flexible. Since the main insurance is the subject of financing, which remains the property of the leasing card until the payment of the obligations, as a rule, there are no other additional insurance and the associated costs, the NLB group explains in which leasing is one of the strategic activities of their group, and both NLB Leas and Summit Leasing operates in it. Their merger is foreseen for the second quarter of this year.

A smaller proportion of fleet customers

As mentioned earlier, in Slovenia the proportion of natural persons among the leasingers of passenger cars is much higher than in other European countries and, on the other hand, operational leasing is also present for companies opting for leasing vehicles. « For the most part, this is also due to the structure of the automotive market itself, since the proportion of so -called large fleet customers due to the very nature of the economic structure in Slovenia is much smaller than the largest European markets, » said Banking Association of Slovenia (ZBS).

And as added to NLB Leas & Go, the demand for « all inclusive » operational leasing is increasing in our country, but due to the characteristics of the market, it is nevertheless limited. “This demand is certainly also influenced by tax policy in the area of ​​use of service vehicles for private purposes, where Slovenian regulation is significantly less friendly to users than the vast majority of EU countries. The only exception is electric vehicles that make personal income tax in Slovenia, as well as a leasing company input VAT can fully calculate. In any case, the lower taxation of both hybrid and all other vehicles should be considered, and above all about simplifying the entire process of monitoring the use of vehicles, recording and reporting, « said NLB Lease & Go.

They do not perceive significant structural changes in the leasing area and are not expected in the near future. In any case, with a more friendly tax treatment of the use of service vehicles for private purposes, this segment could give greater acceleration, according to ZBS. They add that tax treatment in this area is only favorable for electric vehicles, where demand is for several reasons (infrastructure, vehicle price, all uncertainty related to the market of used electric vehicles – batteries, values) limited. This is also indicated by information on the pedestrian of electric vehicles.

« With regard to the green crossing, leasing companies will be accompanied by development in this area, and leasing will certainly be an important source of financing, either vehicles, solar power plants and other energy equipment, » added NLB Lease & Go.

Leasing as a source of investment financing

The ZBS emphasizes that 65 percent of all leasing contracts concluded according to criteria represent contracts concluded to finance the purchases of new and used passenger cars, about 20 percent of the contract for financing new and used lightweight and heavy commercial vehicles, and the rest represents the financing of the purchase of various other equipment, vessels and the like. « So as much as 85 percent of the market is spinning on wheels, » they said.

In Slovenia, leasing is very well known to companies in Slovenia as a source of financing as a source of investment financing, however, depends mainly on their activity. NLB Lease & Go states that, for example, for the rent-a-car company and companies that specialize in comprehensive mobility services, leasing is certainly one of the most important sources of financing. « The same applies to most medium -sized companies for transportation, construction and logistics services, which are mostly funded by leasing, and the like, for the most part. »

In the leasing segment of passenger cars, as leasingers are dominated by natural persons and financial leasing, which is especially pronounced in the financing of used vehicles, which has become an increasingly important segment in the last few years. And according to ZBS, financial leasing is also dominated by legal entities, but in particular, operational leasing is more present in the financing segment of new passenger cars (according to statistics from the Bank of Slovenia, about 30 percent, with these data do not include bank data that report to the Bank of Slovenia differently as leasing companies).

“The demand that is detected in the field of passenger cars remains stable, but recently we have noticed that the demand for so -called all inclusive operational leasing is increasing, which also includes insurance, maintenance costs and so on in addition to the rent of the vehicle. Important providers in this segment are specialized companies in addition to leasing companies, including some major providers, as well as several smaller companies trying to offer as comprehensive mobility services as possible, « ZBS said. However, accurate data on how many vehicles are in long -term rental, they do not have, and they estimate that they have between 5,000 and 10,000 vehicles.

There is virtually no or negligible in the area of ​​used passenger cars. In this segment, companies also decide almost exclusively for financial leasing, and this applies in particular to sole proprietors and small and medium -sized enterprises.

As mentioned earlier, the second most important segment is the leasing of light and heavy new and used commercial vehicles, which accounted for more than 20 percent of all investments last year. “Compared to 2023, we perceive a slight drop in financing new passenger cars, a slight growth of used passenger cars, detecting a greater drop in the area of ​​heavy new commercial vehicles, by just under 30 percent. We estimate that this is mainly due to the smaller number of trucks sold in the Slovenian market and not reducing the demand for leasing, « the ZBS said.