New figures from Datamonitor show less mature markets like Spain and Belgium will see rapid leasing growth over the next five years.

The UK accounts for the greatest share of the European operational leasing market parc, with a forecasted share of 37.8% in 2001 and a fleet of more than 1.5 million cars. V France has the second largest share of the operational leasing market, forecasted to account for 21.1% of the operational leasing market in 2001, to reach more than 860,000 cars.

Germany has the third largest operational leasing fleet in Europe, forecasted to account for a 14.7% share of the leasing parc in 2001.

Countries such as Germany and France are more developed than countries such as Spain but have a greater presence of manufacturer captives within operational leasing, mainly due to the power that companies such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Renault and PSA have in the fleet sector.

These countries still have a lot of potential for operational leasing growth but will not see the competitive structure of the market change significantly over the next few years.

The operational leasing market in Spain is forecast to grow at a CAGR rate of 17.5% over the period 2000 to 2006, to reach more than 515,000 cars, and account for a 52.8% share of the company car parc by 2006.

The operational leasing market in Italy is forecast to grow at a CAGR rate of 15.9% over the 2000 to 2006 period, to reach more than 400,000 cars, and account for a 24.1% share.

Other countries such as the UK will experience very small growth over the next five years, due to the maturity of the operational leasing market.

The UK leasing market is forecast to grow at a rate of 1.6% over the 2000 to 2006 period to reach almost 1.7 million cars, and account for a 46.3% share of the company car parc.

Countries such as Belgium, which are very sophisticated but are yet to mature, will experience stronger growth over the next five years.

The operational leasing market in Belgium is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 9.7%, to reach more than 240,000 cars, and account for a share 32.2% share of the company car parc.

The French van operational leasing segment is forecast to grow from 75,000 vans in 2000 to almost 160,000 vans by 2006. The van's share of the operational leasing market is forecast to grow considerably over the next five years, from an 8.7% share in 2000, to an 11.1% share by 2006.

Unlike most other European markets, the German finance leasing fleet is forecast to expand almost as fast as operational leasing over the next five years. Finance leasing is forecast to grow from a 43.6% share in 2000, to a 45.4% share of the company car market by 2006, representing a fleet CAGR of 2.9% over the same period.

The Italian operational leasing market experienced higher growth, from 101,000 cars and vans in 1997, to almost 195,000 vehicles in 2000 and forecast to reach 230,000 cars and vans in 2001.

Operational leasing holds a considerable share of the Dutch company car parc, accounting for 51.2% of the company car market in 2000.

By 2001, the share of operational leasing within the company car market is expected to increase further to account for 53.1%.(October 2001)