Leaseurope, the trade association representing the European leasing and automotive rental industries, has released its Annual and Ranking Surveys for 2012. The final Annual Statistical Survey, based on information collected from Leaseurope’s Member Associations about their national leasing market confirmed preliminary European market results and showed that total new leasing volumes contracted by 2.6 percent to reach €252.6 billion, with the fall in overall figures being due to a significant downturn in real estate leasing, according to the authors of the report.

Total new equipment leasing volumes, including vehicle leasing, remained stable, growing by 0.6 percent to reach new business volumes of €236.0 billion or 93.4 percent of total new production in 2012. Passenger car leasing was the driving force behind the equipment leasing market’s performance in Europe and grew by 5.7 percent, according to the report.

This year, 86 European leasing companies took part in the 2012 Leaseurope Ranking Survey, of which 68 are classified as parent leasing companies. These parent companies reported total new leasing volumes of more than €124 billion, which represents 49 percent of all leasing business written in Europe in 2012, according to Leaseurope. The top 20 parent leasing companies accounted for almost 40 percent of the total new volumes granted in Europe for 2012 and 26 companies reported new volumes of over €1 billion.