ALD Automotive and Nielsen announce the completion of the first Romanian study exploring attitudes and opinions of company managers towards the operational leasing services. The study included more than 400 companies operating in Romania and was conducted in the first half of 2014.
The results of the study show that full mobility is the most attractive and unique benefit of operational leasing. Other reasons for which companies chose operational leasing are: savings and cost reductions, predictability and budgeting of fixed monthly costs; they have no down payment and the elimination of the vehicle resale risk at the end of contract, which is undertaken by the operational leasing company. In addition, corporate international rules apply for Romanian subsidiaries mandating for operational leasing.
However, only 5% of the vehicles in their current car fleet have been purchased through operational leasing, as opposed to more than 45% of the fleet being bought through direct acquisition. Data shows that operational leasing is mainly preferred by clients with more than 50 cars and is primarily used for cars which at the moment have 1-3 years of use. Also, 10% of the respondents showed their clear intention and mentioned as probable to buy cars through operational leasing in the following 12 months, while 27% of them were not decided yet.
The research also revealed the sources of information clients use when acquiring data on operational leasing services. 53% stated that they take their information directly from the operational leasing suppliers, 34% use the internet and 27% take recommendations from their business partners. Next in line were recommendations from friends and acquaintances, TV and magazines.
The participants in the study also responded questions about the types of cars they have in their fleet and age of vehicles. Thus, 33% of the companies have cars of over 6 years, while 32% use cars of 3-6 years. 24% of the companies have cars of 1-3 years, while only 11% of the companies have bought their cars less than 1 year ago. The preferred car brands in order of their penetration on the respondents’ fleets are Dacia, Renault, Ford, Opel, Volkswagen, Skoda, and others.
The research included two stages, focusing on three interest areas: customers’ needs, customers’ behaviour and client value. The qualitative phase included 12 in-depth interviews with managers of companies currently having an operational leasing product and companies interested in having one. The quantitative part consisted of 400 interviews with company representatives who are in charge of the acquisition or the management of the vehicle fleet. Only companies with at least 15 vehicles with total weight below 3.5t were included in the study.
The largest number of companies was working in Transport (29%), Wholesale and retail (18%), Food Industry (8%), Woodwork and furniture (5%) and Construction (4%). 73% of the interviewed companies are local, without offices in other cities, while 23% are local companies which also have offices in other cities. 4% of the companies taking part in the study are subsidiaries of international organizations. More than 65% of the companies have less than 50 employees in Romania and 64% of them have registered a turnover of less than 50 mil Euros.
Nielsen
Nielsen is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement. Nielsen is present in approximately 100 countries and Consumer Insights Department of Nielsen Romania was established in 1993. Since then it has conducted numerous studies based on qualitative and quantitative methodologies, also using modern research tools and dedicated technologies (Neurofocus, Eye Tracking, Smartphone Shopper etc).
The ALD Automotive Group
ALD Automotive is a leader in the full service leasing and fleet management markets. With an unprecedented geographic footprint, in-depth expertise in its different businesses, a strong innovative approach and a renowned service quality, the ALD Automotive Group is a major player on the international market with confirmed strong positions: 2nd in Europe and 3rd worldwide. The group reached in 2013 the symbolic milestone of one million vehicles on the road, with a fleet of 1,008,840 vehicles on 31st December.
ALD Automotive in Romania
Operational in Romania since 2005, ALD Automotive is the subsidiary of BRD – Groupé Société Générale and the ALD Automotive Group. The company provides full service operational leasing by ensuring financing and a complete range of management services for vehicle fleets. ALD Automotive is certified by SRAC for the ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2005 standards.