Long-term rental fears a drop in registrations

The rental industry closes 2024 with a growing fleet and turnover, but also with a clear drop in registrations (especially for passenger cars). Now, however, with the new taxation of company car fringe benefits provided for by the Budget Law, which could push for a generalised extension of existing contracts, there is a risk of a new drop in registrations for next year as well, estimated at 30% for long-term rentals. This is why operators in the sector are predicting a similar year for 2025 as last year, or at even lower levels if the tax changes under discussion are confirmed.

2024 marked the recovery of short-term rental, which returned to growth for the first time since the pandemic, albeit with a boost concentrated mainly in the first few months of the year. According to Unrae data, from January to November, short-term rentals registered registrations up more than 25% year-on-year, while long-term rentals fell by 19% compared to the same eleven months of 2023 (from 361,000 to 292,000).

The hope now is that the market can at least maintain these levels, also because it is unrealistic to think of repeating the numbers of 2023, which went down in history as a record year, particularly for long-term rental. Last year, conditions were objectively exceptional, due to a strong concentration of an order backlog also linked to the delayed deliveries between 2021 and 2022, due to the semiconductor crisis. In order to make comparisons between this year and the previous year, one must therefore remember these dynamics. Despite the downturn in registrations, the rental fleet is still expanding and is reaching 1.3 million units. "The fleet is growing and if the fleet grows so does the turnover of our members. The sector itself is not contracting," explains Alberto Viano, president of Aniasa, the association representing the mobility services sector in Confindustria. "We are also observing an increase in the duration of contracts, which from the classic 36 months and 90 thousand kilometres are increasingly moving to 48 months and 120 thousand kilometres.

The unknown quantity of registrations, in any case, remains. 'It is clear that we would be pleased to have 500,000 registrations, but that is not the only indicator to evaluate,' says Viano. Just as there remains some concern about the recent cut to the Automotive Fund. 'It came very unexpectedly. We renters are not among those most affected, but it is certainly worrying because it expresses a sign of a lack of attention to the automotive sector. In the same way, we were also taken by surprise by the proposal to revise employee taxation, because it risks producing a regressive fiscal effect, attacking middle management'.

The year 2024 saw a gradual increase in the level of appreciation among companies for long-term rental services, as revealed by the Top Thousand Observatory's 'Rental and Quality' survey. Among the services that have confirmed a high level of satisfaction this year, even when compared to pre-pandemic, are the commercial relationship, administration, IT area and customer service. On the other hand, consultancy and the ability to get involved in the launch of new car models, conferences and workshops are to be improved.