ALD/Leaseplan is aiming to take advantage of market trends to achieve growth and build on its strong position in the vehicle leasing market.
The combined group, created by the acquisition of Leaseplan by ALD Automotive which was completed in May this year, is also set to launch a new brand in October.
Introducing its new Power Up 2026 strategy, the company announced that it was targeting growth in earning assets of 6% between now and 2026, along with a cost/income ratio of 52% from that date, which group deputy chief executive officer and chief financial officer Patrick Sommelet said had gone up from the previously-predicted 47% due to increased costs associated with the war in Ukraine, and IT costs from Leaseplan having been higher than expected. Chief executive officer Tim Albertsen said the 52% figure would still be industry-leading.
Discussing the prospect of the new brand, Albertsen said: “We will be getting a new brand, a new name and a new identity. This will underline the birth of a new global leader in sustainable mobility.
“A name and a brand that will allow our teams to come together as one and will talk to our corporate clients as well as consumers. A name and a brand that will lead the mobility sector in the years to come.”
Albertsen said the company’s size following the Leaseplan acquisition gave it major advantages.
He said: “We are by far now the undisputed leader in our industry worldwide, with an incredible footprint now in main European markets, being number one positioning in 29 mature markets.
“We are double the size of our closest competitor. Having the largest multi-brand EV fleet – more than 400,000 vehicles – means that ALD/Leaseplan is the market for three to four-year-old multi-brand EVs, which gives us a strong pricing power in this segment.
“Scale is essential in this industry, and our procurement power is second to none.”
Albertsen said fleet electrification was one of several trends to which the company was responding, with a target of 50% of its new vehicle deliveries being EVs by 2026.
He said: “The acceleration of electrification of vehicles and fleets [during] the last three years has proven to be a strong growth opportunity for us. Our corporate clients are keen to pursue their net zero emission trajectories, and here their mobility plays an important role.”
Among the other trends ALD/Leaseplan is aiming to capitalise on is a shift in how customers view vehicle ownership.
Albertsen said: “The SME and consumer segments going for usership rather than ownership is a strong growth opportunity in the years to come. Obviously, we are the ones best positioned to capitalise here.
“In essence, it means that our products and services are going from being a niche product to becoming mainstream. We also see that our clients, whether corporates or consumers, are demanding more flexibility.
“Subscriptions will eventually become a larger part of the market, and we are extremely well positioned with our already existing flex products, and Fleetpool, the largest subscription company in Europe.”
ALD/Leaseplan is also targeting mobility-as-a-service growth, aiming for 200,000 active users in this area by 2026.
Albertsen said: “The expectations from our clients [are] to deliver more integrated mobility solutions, in fact not just vehicles but multi-modality, which means offering our clients a way to travel not only by their car, but all forms of transportation.”
Albertsen explained that the ALD’s previous growth targets for 2025 had already been achieved with the Leaseplan acquisition.
He said: “The next 18-24 months will be very much dedicated to getting the two companies fully integrated, to secure the synergies, implement a global dominance model, and build strong operational excellence in our platform.
“Taken altogether what we have achieved so far indicates that we are ready to lead the industry through innovation, and significant building blocks for the future of mobility are already in place.”
