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Leasing companies

These unknown giants hold significant power in shaping the EV transition, but their climate commitments are scarce

8 million cars Estimated fleet size of the top 3 EU leasing companies

0 Leasing companies committed to stop financing new ICE vehicles in Europe

Leasing companies are big and profitable

Leasing firms are the secret giants of the car world. Half of all new cars in Europe are leased and their market share is forecasted to reach 70% in 2030. They have a critical role in determining how quickly we achieve the switch to electric cars.

A small number of leasing companies dominate the leasing sector. The top three alone have an estimated fleet of 8 million vehicles: Ayvens (between 3.1 and 3.4 million), Volkswagen Financial Services (2.5 million) and Arval (1.9 million). Leasys, Alphabet, Athlon, Mobilize Financial Services and others also have significant car fleets. Leasing companies are owned by large carmakers (Volkswagen, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Renault) and banks (BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole).

During the post-pandemic chip shortage (2022–2023), leasing firms made record-breaking windfall profits selling off returned lease vehicles at historic high prices. In 2025, they also saw their business and lease margins grow.

Stuck in the fossil age

Leasing companies claim that they drive the switch to electric cars but they have never disclosed the figures to back that up.

That’s no surprise. An investigation in July 2025 by Reclaim Finance and Transport & Environment (T&E) revealed that the EU’s largest leasing firms have made little to no meaningful climate commitments, despite their growing influence and key role in decarbonizing the automotive sector.

This is a serious, long-lasting issue, as they set listed monthly prices for new models, which influence how attractive electric vehicles appear. They also guide customers through the transition —or fail to do so. And they manage the resale of vehicles at the end of the lease period, shaping the second-hand market, where 8 out of 10 Europeans buy their cars.

The T&E and Reclaim Finance story found:

12 out of 20 leasing companies publish no public information specifically about their leasing activities. Among them are major players like Stellantis Financial Services, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, and Toyota Financial Services.
Even in the case of the 8 companies that disclose information, none provide a transparent detailed breakdown of their fleets by vehicle type, country, or year, making it impossible to evaluate their decarbonization progress.
Only 9 companies have climate targets, but these are fragmented, short-term, poorly detailed. Some have been weakened, postponed or suspended, as seen with Arval (BNP Paribas), Ayvens (Société Générale), and Mobilize (Renault).
No leasing company has committed to stop financing new ICE vehicles in Europe, even after 2035, when the EU plans to ban their sale.

Later in 2025, Crédit Agricole committed to leasing BEVs at a rate at least 10 percentage points above the EU EV market share by as early as 2028. The announcement covered all of the bank’s car-leasing entities: Crédit Agricole Auto Bank, Drivalia and Leasys, in which Crédit Agricole and Stellantis each hold a 50% share. It was seen as a definitive sign that the industry was starting to move. However, in early 2026, BNP Paribas, the owner of Arval, announced that it had postponed its 2025 emissions target to 2030, showing that progress in the sector cannot be taken for granted.

T&E is calling on leasing companies to change course and show real climate leadership

This means:

1

Set ambitious targets to stop leasing fossil-fuel cars (including hybrids).
2

Improve their current climate performance by leading the market in the uptake of battery electric cars.
3

Increase transparency regarding their uptake of BEVs in the EU.
4

Publicly advocate for policy changes that incentivise and enable the transition to electromobility, such as the proposed EU Clean Corporate Vehicles Regulation (CCVR).

The information on this page was last updated on September 10, 2026

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