3Q: Bogdan Apahidean, president of ASLO (the Association of Operational Leasing Companies)

How will the operational leasing market do in 2012?

We estimate growth of 15 to 20 percent, a continuation of the trend of recent years. If the net turnover at industry level for this year surpasses EUR 250 million, it will probably exceed EUR 300 million next year. Over 70 percent of the market will be shared by complete operational leasing services (financing and fleet management), followed by approximately 20 percent for fleet management, while financing services will go below the 10 percent threshold next year. Around 12,000 new vehicles will be delivered through this leasing system in 2012, from the 9,400 units set to be delivered in 2011.

What is the attitude of corporate clients towards operational leasing?

Companies are starting to switch from direct purchases of vehicles or financial leasing due to cost efficiency. So, the new trend will be operational leasing, even if it happens at a slower pace than we had expected, given the experience of multinationals in more developed economies. Even clients with large budgets for vehicle purchases have realized that investing money in vehicles that can rapidly lose value is not feasible nowadays. Opting for operational leasing should lead to a 10 to 30 percent decrease in fleet management costs, depending on how companies used to contain costs before adopting this lease plan.

Has ASLO lobbied the national authorities with any legal proposals?

We have formulated legal proposals, along with the ALB (Association of Financial Companies in Romania) on the bill changing the ordinance 195/2002, which governs traffic on public roads. This bill is currently under public debate and we have two main proposals in the interests of operational leasing companies and clients. The first is the exemption of leasing companies from the mandatory replacemenÉ´ of car talons once the companies change address. The second initiative proposes that leasing companies be able to de-register vehicles on their own, excluding the possibility of fines that could otherwise be levied against these companies if the cars are not de-registered by the buyer, but sold to third parties instead.

Ovidiu Posirca