Leasing giants called out for weak climate leadership and low ambition on electric cars in the EU – new investigation

(Transport and Environment, 18 Oct 2023) Transport & Environment stages action outside Société Générale and BNP Paribas headquarters in Paris as a new report highlights lack of climate leadership of their car leasing subsidiaries, ALD I LeasePlan* and Arval, in the European Union. The group calls upon Europe’s biggest leasing companies to stop leasing fossil fuel cars by 2028 in a new campaign launched today.

Europe’s top seven leasing companies^[1] are not the green leaders they claim to be, a new study by Transport & Environment (T&E) finds. Using a framework of seven criteria to evaluate their performance on green mobility, none of the companies succeed.

The firms analysed in the report are Volkswagen Financial Services, Mobilize Financial Services, ALD I LeasePlan (rebranded Ayvens on 16 October 2023), Arval, Leasys, Alphabet, and Athlon. Together these companies oversee a fleet of close to 10 million cars in the EU. In Europe, half of new cars are now registered under a leasing contract. Leasing companies therefore have a major influence on the pace the EU transitions to e-mobility and cuts its transport emissions.

No leasing company has committed to fully phasing out fossil fuel cars. In contrast, many carmakers and large corporations have already pledged to go 100% electric by 2030. ALD I LeasePlan is the only leasing company with a target for the uptake of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that is more ambitious than carmaker production plans. Other leasing companies have weak or no targets for the uptake of BEVs.

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Transport and Environment, 18 Oct 2023: Leasing giants called out for weak climate leadership and low ambition on electric cars in the EU – new investigation