Are you looking for a car? Contact your bank. She will buy it, offer it to you for long-term rental and after three years, she will sign a contract with another customer looking for a second-hand model. Purchasing, marketing, financing; banks can already do everything. What is new is that they are getting organized to broaden their field of intervention to all mobility services, and want to become indispensable.
The very noticeable presence of the banking sector, in particular that of Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas, at the Paris Motor Show at the end of October suggests that the time has come to play a simple partner role. The changes that the automobile is going through are opening up new perspectives for these organizations. After years of falling between the average price of new cars and the purchasing power of households, the mode of automobile consumption has begun to favor use rather than ownership. What makes a car a financial asset?
The electrification of the market has only accelerated the generalization of a phenomenon which consists in driving a vehicle which does not belong to you. Companies now account for more than half of new model registrations, but they hardly ever buy them; they use them for long-term rental or leasing.
Multiple investments
Between 2018 and 2022, long-term rental formulas (known by its acronym LLD) or rental with option to purchase (known as LOA) increased from 34% to 53% of registrations made by individuals who see it as a way to ride beyond their means. At the same time, traditional modes of acquisition (personal financing or consumer credit) fell from 54% to 43%. As far as electric vehicles are concerned, the choice of leasing, most often over thirty-six months, is hegemonic, and the share of banks in this market is constantly growing in the face of manufacturers, some of whom have given up developing their own financing tool.
“In the short term, rental with option to purchase will continue its upward curve, but in the medium term, it is long-term rental that will prevail. It makes it possible to chain rentals for the same vehicle while preserving its resale value,” sums up Vincent Carré, director of mobility services at Crédit Agricole, now the sole owner of the financing organization FCA Bank after buying the shares of Stellantis. The establishment, present at the Mondial on a stand as imposing as that of the major car manufacturers, does not intend to stop there.
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