Leaseurope’s biannual survey of the European leasing market reveals that new equipment and vehicle leasing volumes in Europe increased by 3.4% to reach €112 billion in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period a year ago.

Vehicle leasing on its own expanded by 3.5%. This is slightly more than the growth in equipment volumes, which gained 2.6%. Despite the positive performance of equipment and vehicle leasing, total volumes contracted slightly (-1.0%) 1 compared to the same period a year ago due to a significant downturn in real estate leasing volumes.

At regional level, Southern European markets, including Italy and other countries from the Mediterranean region, showed considerably weakened activity levels in equipment and vehicle leasing volumes. However, most of the markets in the Baltic and Nordic regions, Russia, UK and Turkey showed growth of over 10% in equipment and vehicle leasing volumes. With the exception of Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Ukraine, other European markets experienced moderate growth in these asset segments. In contrast, real estate leasing fell sharply across the vast majority of European markets.

Commenting on the figures, Leaseurope’s adviser in Statistics and Economic Affairs, Jurgyte Bucye, said that “the weak European economy continues to influence the leasing business. European equipment investment is forecast to remain almost flat in 2012 and the European Commission only expects a return to healthier growth levels in 2013. In this tough environment, European leasing companies must focus on providing innovative solutions to their clients and making sure their unique value proposition is well understood by all stakeholders.”

To read Leaseurope’s news release click here.