The leasing fleet now accounts for 27.67% of the car market

The Spanish Vehicle Leasing Association has detailed the evolution of leasing in Spain over the past nine years, complementing the information presented in its latest 2024 report.

The year 2015 is taken as a reference point because it marks the beginning of the leasing expansion process in our country across all customer segments. Since then, there has been significant growth among smaller clients, particularly micro-enterprises, freelancers, and individuals, whose presence in leasing was previously very limited.

According to José-Martín Castro Acebes, president of the Spanish Vehicle Leasing Association, "the data presented today confirms that leasing ceased to be a niche option long ago and has established itself as a key and widely adopted mobility solution. Over these nine years, the sector has grown exponentially, quintuplicating clients and doubling a fleet that will likely exceed one million units by 2025."

Regarding registrations, Castro Acebes explains that the share of leasing has increased from 14.22% to 27.67%. A notable fact is that the van segment has doubled its presence in leasing, rising from 22.90% in 2015 to 44.93% in 2024. This demonstrates that "leasing has also established itself as a key option for professional mobility."

According to this report, leasing has invested approximately 9,426 million euros over the past nine years in the 508,616 vehicles powered by alternative energies that the sector has registered. This amount is part of a total of 49,306 million euros invested in vehicle purchases. Since 2015, these investments have increased by 142.30%, rising from 3,144 million euros in 2015 to 7,618 million euros in 2024; for every euro invested in 2015, more than two have been invested now.

The share of leasing in the car market has also increased by 94.59%, rising from 14.22% in 2015 to 27.67% in 2024, an increase of 13.45 percentage points; on average, it has increased by 1.68 percentage points each year. This means that leasing previously registered one in every seven vehicles in Spain, and now, nearly one in every three. In the case of derivatives and vans, the proportion is one in every two.

In total, since 2015, leasing has registered 2,382,466 vehicles, making leasing a fundamental vector for rejuvenating the fleet, considering that the average age of the Spanish fleet is 14.5 years, while the average age of the leasing fleet is two years.

The share of alternative energy vehicles (electrified, hybrid, and gas) has increased by 37.14 percentage points. In 2015, these energies accounted for 1.06%, and in 2024, the share of these propulsion systems was 38.19%.

By the end of 2024, a fleet of 116,000 electrified vehicles is recorded, representing more than 12% of the total leasing fleet. Of these 116,000 vehicles, 33.6% are pure electric.

Regarding the vehicle fleet, over these nine years, it has increased by 500,043 units, a 111.71% rise. In this growth, individuals (freelancers and private individuals) and small companies (with 1 to 4 vehicles) contribute 55.63%, adding 278,182 units, while medium-sized companies account for 18.75%, with 93,754 more vehicles, and large companies, 25.62%, adding 128,107 units during the analyzed period.

Thus, individuals increase their fleet by 1,185.11%, contributing 124,875 units, with their share of the total fleet rising from 2.35% in 2015 to 14.29% in 2024.

Meanwhile, small companies experience a fleet growth of 223.87%, adding 153,307 automobiles. The share of small companies has increased from 15.30% in 2015 to 23.40% in 2024.

Medium-sized companies (with 5 to 24 vehicles) increase their leasing fleet by 122.59%, with their share rising from 17.09% in 2015 to 17.96% in 2024. Large companies (with more than 24 vehicles) grow by 43.85%, with their share falling from 65.26% in 2015 to 44.34% in 2024.

Leasing clients have increased by 372.74% since 2015. The number has risen from 55,586 in 2015 to 262,780 in 2024. Of the 207,194 new clients, 57.78% are freelancers and individuals, and 37.48% are small companies. As a result of the greater share of smaller clients, the average number of vehicles per client has decreased from 8.05 in 2015 to 3.61 in 2024.