Toyota to establish Mobility Service company

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announces its decision to merge its wholly owned subsidiary Toyota Fleet Leasing Co., Ltd. (TFL) with its wholly owned second-tier subsidiary Toyota Tokyo Rental & Leasing Co., Ltd. (R Tokyo) to establish a new company, Toyota Mobility Service Co., Ltd., on April 1, 2018. In addition to aiming to strengthen the existing corporate automobile leasing and rental car businesses, Toyota intends to plan and provide new mobility services in anticipation of a mobility society.
Toyota is aware of customers’ diversifying needs, which not only includes conventional vehicle ownership, but also the growing need for shared utilization, such as car sharing, in which people use things only whenever and for whatever period they would like. The company has determined that it is important not only to respond to changing needs but also to provide value-added services that uncover potential needs. Many corporations operating across Japan are based in Tokyo, where the earliest expansion of the mobility service society is expected to occur. Consequently, Toyota plans to establish the new company there in order to quickly and flexibly respond to changing uses and needs for cars in this once-in-a-century revolutionary period in the automobile industry.
The new company will work with Toyota, as well as with Toyota Group vehicle manufacturing companies including Toyota Connected Company in the connected area, Toyota Finance Corporation in finance, and Toyota Usec in the used car business, mobilizing the combined strength of each company to meet a wide range of customer needs. In the future, Toyota aims to become the leading company of a mobility society by developing and offering mobility services adapted to a connected society.
www.toyota.co.jp

Hungarian car market doubled over the last five years

In 2017, the Hungarian new car market has achieved a great expansion: 116 265 new passenger cars have been launched. This represents a growth of 119% compared to 2012, an increase of 20% compared to 2016, said the Hungarian Leasing Association. Car finance is a key driver for the growing leasing market, and car market expansion can help to improve the car fleet in Hungary and the average age of cars to moderate from the current 14-year level. Therefore, the expansion of the Hungarian car market has continued for many years, according to the Hungarian Leasing Association, based on Datahouse and its own data, presenting car market trends. In 2017 116 265 new passenger cars were sold in Hungary, compared to the 53,559 cars sold in 2012. Zoltán Tóth, Secretary General of the Hungarian Leasing Association, assessed last year’s results as saying: the leasing market played an important role in the car market expansion, as about 40% of new car sales were realized through a leasing scheme. Although the leasing market data for the whole year have not yet been available, the figures for the first nine months of the year show the leasing role. In the case of passenger car and small-car financing, the amount financed increased by 23% to 131 billion forints, he said. From the compilation of the Hungarian Leasing Association, it is also apparent that the sales of large-scale vehicles have also increased considerably. Compared to 2016, growth was 6%. Leasing also plays an important role in this, which shows that in the first nine months of last year, the amount of outsourced vehicles grew by 21% to HUF 123 billion in the big cars and buses segment. According to the Hungarian Leasing Association, expansion on the vehicle market may continue, which means growth opportunities for the leasing market as well. The low level of interest rates can be maintained in 2018, so leasing customers can choose from very favorable offers.
www.lizingszövetseg.hu

Hungarian leasing market outperforms European average

Hungary’s leasing market performed well last year in international comparison. The Hungarian Leasing Association’s analysis, which compares data from the European association, Leaseurope for the first nine months of 2017 with domestic results, found that while the growth of new sales slowed across Europe, Hungary has produced double-digit growth in several consecutive quarters.
The top leasing firms in Europe registered 1.9% growth in the third quarter, nearly unchanged from 2% in Q2 and well below the 10.5% figure from the first quarter of 2017.
Meanwhile, the volume of new leasing contracts in Hungary grew 23%, 15% and 19% in the first three quarters last year and stood at HUF 428 billion at the end of September 2017.
Growth in Hungary was well above projections of less than 10%, according to Zoltán Tóth, secretary general of the Hungarian Leasing Association. All segments contributed to growth, but vehicle financing played a key role, with cars and pick-ups growing 23% and trucks 19% in January-September, he added. Machinery financing also expanded 41% compared to the first nine months of the previous year.
The association expects slightly slower, single-digit growth in 2018 and sees the growth of the economy and investments as key to further expansion in vehicle and asset financing.

Source: Hungarian Leasing Association and Leaseurope