Japanese Light Vehicle Leasing Market, Forecast to 2023

The Japanese Leasing Industry is Healthy and Expects Promising Growth Prospects Driven by Operational Leasing in Both the Corporate and Private Market Segments

Fleet renewals were the major driver for new company car registrations as a strained economy caused fluctuations in total registrations over the past few years. The benefits of leasing (unlike owning) has boosted the transition from a loan purchase system to a full-service operational leasing system since it has enabled corporates to focus on their core business activities. On the retail front, “usership” is becoming the trend as people prefer access to the asset and its benefits, rather than owning the asset and dealing with the attendant hassles of maintaining it.

Vehicle leasing is seen as a solution to the growing number of challenges faced by companies with regard to their mobility needs. Amongst others, these include challenges associated with vehicle funding, fleet maintenance, and, more importantly, residual risk handling. Businesses in the present market conditions are focused on their core products/services and seek to outsource all other support activities. Mobility is a significant department - starting from fleet purchase to remarketing at a competitive price - and for each of the segments in the value chain, unless an expert team is on the job, issues such as cost spikes, utilisation mismatches, irregularities in fleet maintenance, and risks of dips in residual value can crop up. Leasing the fleet offers several benefits, including enables hassle-free mobility, on-demand mobility, and fleet after-service facilities. This has driven the growth of the leasing market, given it a structure, and regulated the ecosystem.

This study sheds light on the market size across the passenger vehicle (PV) and light commercial vehicle (LCV) segments and provides sales/parc data for the total market and fleet and company car (true fleet) segments in Japan. The company car segment in the country is discussed in detail, with a focus on the actual development and the growth potential of financial lease, operational lease, and outright purchase. The analysis takes into account historical data and current market conditions and insights and opinions from market participants to provide a five-year outlook on growth opportunities (over the 2018 to 2023 period). In addition to market data (PV and LCV) for both new registrations and portfolio, the study provides actual competitor data (portfolio) for the leading leasing service providers in Japan. Competitor data is available for both the leasing segments (operational and financial) for the base year (2018). The evolution of any industry depends on factors such as transformational trends that are linked to the macroeconomic factors of the region and the emerging business models that reflect innovation in mobility solutions, such as rental, car sharing, integrated mobility, and alternative power-train. The study covers these evolutionary trends that are expected to shape the market. For leasing providers and other companies that share the leasing ecosystem, interest lies in the growth opportunities that they need to leverage and the strategic imperatives that aid in their pursuit of growth and success. Overall, the study provides a 360 degree understanding of the Japanese leasing space and offers a detailed account of the key trends, market overview, and outlook.