UK Home Deliveries See Number of Vans on Operating Leases Surge

The rise of e-commerce and the demand for home delivery has seen the number of light commercial vehicles funded by the UK’s major leasing companies increase by nearly 5% year-on-year. The number of vans underwritten leasing company books was 462,863 - an increase of 21,515 vehicles.

by Ralph Morton, London

November 4, 2021

UK Home Deliveries See Number of Vans on Operating Leases Surge — E-Commerce has been driving the expansion of the funded van fleet in the UK
**Credit:** Mercedes-Benz Vans

2 min to read

The rise of e-commerce and the demand for home delivery has seen the number of light commercial vehicles funded by the UK’s major leasing companies increase by nearly 5% year-on-year.

Despite the difficulties of sourcing vans, thanks to the semiconductor shortage, the number of vans underwritten leasing company books was 462,863 - an increase of 21,515 vehicles.

In comparison, the number of cars funded dropped 1.7% - more than 20,000 units - to 1.2m.

“Over the past year, we have seen the demand for vans soar with operators looking to renew and expand fleets to meet the rising demands of online business and other thriving sectors such as the construction industry,” commented Kinto commercial vehicle specialist Kellie Davis.

The statistics were revealed at the annual FN50 industry awards ceremony where the list of the largest leasing companies in the UK are revealed.

While Zenith and Free2Move Lease have swapped positions, the top 10 remain the same as in 2020 with Lex Autolease remaining the number one leasing company, while this year Volkswagen Financial Services | Fleet has joined Lex Autolease with over 200,000 vehicles.

The top 10 leasing companies are listed below.

Top 10 UK Leasing Companies By Fleet Size

1 Lex Autolease 282,720 - last year 324,374

2 Volkswagen Financial Services | Fleet 202,155 - last year 187,399

3 Arval 179,022 - last year 177,441

4 LeasePlan 173,849 - last year 177,316

5 ALD Automotive 142,824 - last year 145,354

6 Alphabet 132,290 - last year 130,083

7 Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions 77,799 -l ast year 69,614

8 Zenith 58,129 - last year 53,934

9 Free2Move Lease 53,099 - last year 61,610

10 Arnold Clark Finance 49,427 - last year 49,369

Source: FN50

Caption: E-Commerce has been driving the expansion of the funded van fleet in the UK

Credit: Mercedes-Benz Vans

Topics:United Kingdom first mile last mile Fleet Leasing Delivery Fleets E-commerce Global Fleet

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