FN50 2024 reaches record level for financed vehicles, but profits fall

Two years ago we introduced the FN50, which included just 49 companies in the table as mergers and acquisitions shrunk the size of the sector.

We wondered if this was the start of the much talked about market decline, with fewer companies funding the nation’s fleet of cars, vans and trucks.

However, a year later we were back to 50; This year, 53 companies completed the FN50 survey, leaving three companies now waiting in the wings next year, growth permitting.

One of the reasons why more leasing companies are seeking a place in the FN50 ranking is the tendency of brokers to consider financing from their own funds.

Take new entrant FN50 Rivervale (#45) for example. IN Fleet News’ recent interview with CEO Vince Pemberton said: “It seemed like a natural progression for our business.”

This is not the only option: AMT, ICR Leasing and Multifleet Vehicle Management (formerly RunYourFleet) have their roots in either the brokerage or rental sector. All recognized the opportunities offered by expanding their services.

However, this is not a risk-free strategy, as several former FN50 members have discovered. Recent volatility in residual values, especially for electric vehicles, has forced them to exit the market, move away from leasing financed vehicles, and instead focus on growing their brokerage business.

They leave behind an FN50 with a purple Covid patch. Last year’s record vehicle fleet size has been surpassed again, with the 2024 class adding more than 60,000 vehicles for the first time and exceeding 1.8 million cars and vans (1,802,127) for the first time.

However, unlike last year, both passenger cars and vans contributed to the growth. Leasing companies halted the decline in financed vans and registered more than 12,000 additional units, bringing the fleet size to 467,203.

Meanwhile, the number of vehicles rose by more than 43,000 to 1,334,924, continuing a trend that began in 2020.

The only category that recorded a year-over-year change was trucks, but that was largely due to the absence of Prohire, which had 1,463 trucks last year. Because trucks account for the majority of the financed fleet (last year it had 924 vans and 12 cars), the company pulled out this year.

Consequently, the number of trucks financed by FN50 companies fell from 29,714 to 28,084, with 13 companies providing figures (14 companies in 2023). However, the average number per respondent rose slightly from 2,123 to 2,160 on the back of increases reported by Novuna Vehicle Solutions and Holman.

Zenith remains the largest truck sponsor in FN50 with 15,250, despite a slight decline from 2023 figures.

Another notable absence from this year’s list is Affinity Leasing, which ranked 39th in 2023 with a fleet of 2,185, mostly passenger cars. He did not respond to the survey this year.

Those absences opened the door to a larger-than-usual number of new entrants this year, with five companies debuting, two more than 2023. Despite this, much of the listing looks familiar.

The top eight companies are unchanged from 2023; indeed, the only changes to the top 10 are Leasys, up one place to ninth, and salary donation specialist Tusker, which enters after a stellar year under its new owners, Lloyds, with an impressive 55% jump in fleet size .

It replaces Arnold Clark Finance in the top 10.

Last year, Tasker financed just under 33,000 vehicles, mostly passenger cars; this year it will exceed 51,000. For further context, just over 22,000 vehicles were financed in 2022.

In a recent interview with Fleet News, Tusker managing director Keith Wisdom said the growth illustrates the growing popularity of salary sacrifice.

“Our customer base is growing and getting larger because the product is interesting to potential customers as well as payroll and HR teams,” he said.

This view would have been echoed by fellow wage reduction specialist Octopus Electric Vehicles had he not refused to provide FN50 data.

On its website the company says it supplies 5,000 employers, and back in February chief executive Fiona Howarth told the Telegraph that Octopus was funding 14,000 cars, up from 6,000 a year earlier, enough to place it in the top 20.

The company is now reportedly planning to increase its fleet to 30,000 vehicles, with a strong focus on used electric vehicles, following a £500 million debt deal. This would allow him to confidently enter the top 15.

Just one leasing company in the top 10 has seen a reduction in fleet size, the recently renamed Ayvens, which is addressing the challenges of integrating leasing giants ALD and LeasePlan, problems that have previously faced many major mergers, notably Lloyds TSB Autolease and Lex Vehicle Leasing.

However, a year after delivering its first set of combined FN50 figures, Ayvens is performing well, with a modest decline in fleet size of just 6%, equating to 18,611 vehicles, of which almost 10,000 are passenger cars. History shows that other countries fared much worse in the early years.

In addition to Tusker, nine companies saw double-digit growth in fleet size. Most impressive was sales growth for retail-focused BMW Financial Services, with sales up 163% to 2,839, almost all vehicles.

Among the largest sponsors, Select Lease by Mobilize and Holman saw sales growth exceed 20%.

The first, a business partnership between Renault-owned Mobilize Financial Services and independent broker Select Car Leasing, begins to achieve chief executive Alice Altemayr’s long-term target with growth of 20.2% to almost 38,500 vehicles.

She told Fleet News in May that “we want to be in the top five in the UK.” This is an ambitious goal that will require the addition of over 100,000 more vehicles based on this year’s FN50.

Meanwhile, American-owned finance lease specialist Holman continued to show there is a market for its distinctive offering, rising 21.8% to almost 14,000 vehicles, lifting the company three places to 16th.

Only Novuna Vehicle Solutions and Ayvens offer more cars in finance leasing.

Also achieving notable year-on-year growth was Ford Fleet Management, which financed nearly 1,500 additional vehicles, a 38% increase to 5,172. It moved into the top 30 at 29th place, up four places.

Besides Altemaire, only four other leasing companies are led by women, a new high but still well below the level expected for the group of 50 organizations. The modest group also includes acting managing director Claire Timms of Total Motion, who has bolstered her CV by overseeing an almost 17% increase in fleet size compared to last year.

Lakshmi Murthy is the only one to run a leasing company in the top 10, currently in her fourth year at Arval, and the longest serving is Samantha Roff, who took the reins at Venson Automotive Solutions 18 years ago. Venson continues to hold its own with just over 10,000 vehicles financed by prioritizing customer service and profits over pure growth.

Patricia Wolfe, in her sixth year at Athlon’s helm, also oversaw the growing mobile business, which grew 3.9%.

Despite the record size of the FN50 fleet, not every leasing company reported an increase in their individual performance.

The 13 unlucky indices were negative, although most were only slightly down from 2023.

In addition to Rivervale, two other leasing companies in the lower echelons were included in the FN50 for the first time. Fleet4You came in 50th place, although its fleet of 509 vehicles is significantly larger than the 144 posted by last year’s lessee Leasing Plus, which dropped out of the top 50.

Three positions higher is “Pure Leasing” with 778 cars.

Next in the table is Global, which immediately ranks 34th with a fleet of 4,078 people, of which 3,271 are cars.

The highest new entry, ranked 28th, is Drivalia Lease UK. As with Global, its fleet is dominated by cars, making up 5,055 of its 5,550 vehicles.

Car rental company Drivalia is another of those companies that is expanding its reach with its own funding. The company has a strong relationship with leasing broker Leasing Options and ambitious plans for further growth.

Another interesting development worth noting is that there has been an unprecedented level of change among the directors of FN50 companies.

Eight of the 45 leasing companies that took part in last year’s FN50 are led by new people, which could lead to new directions and strategies for some. These include Tim Laver, who will replace the retiring Alfonso Martinez at Ayvens (Laver was previously managing director at ALD and then deputy director of mergers under Martinez), Keith Wisdom at Tucker, replacing Paul Gilshan, Phil Wilbraham at Pendragon with the departure of Neil Francis and Chris Nightingale from TSN Leasing, replacing Mark Hammond, who worked in this position for a long time and has now retired.

Fleet News will assess their impact, successes and any missteps in the 12 months leading up to FN50 2025.