March 30, 2024 Today at 10:46 am
Leased cars do not end up en masse on the second-hand market following the contract expires, reports research institution EnergyVille. As a result, there is no sustainable greening of the fleet through lease cars.
Last year was a record year in terms of the number of new leasing cars, but EnergyVille wondered whether they really ensure greening. EnergyVille contradicts the argument that lease cars later trickle down to the second-hand market and thus become private cars.
After five years, half of the lease cars have already been exported or destroyed.
After five years, roughly half of those cars have already been exported or destroyed, and following eight years even 75 percent have disappeared from the Belgian fleet. Every year, more second-hand cars are imported from abroad than lease cars are given a second life in Belgium. “There is therefore no question of sustainable greening of the Belgian vehicle fleet through lease cars.”
Young fleet
Belgium has a very young passenger car fleet. Last year, just under 480,000 new passenger cars were added, compared to less than 370,000 a year earlier. This increase in the number of new passenger cars can not least be attributed to lease cars. For the first time, for example, more new lease cars have been registered than private cars. And due to the changed tax system regarding deductibility, the share of electric cars in new lease cars had already increased from 12.5 percent in 2022 to 28.2 percent in 2023.
The statement that the lease fleet has become greener in recent years is therefore correct. Although EnergyVille immediately adds a ‘but’. Anyone who looks at the ‘eco score’ will see that it was only last year that lease cars had the highest eco score and private cars had the lowest for the first time. This environmental indicator maps the tailpipe emissions and the environmental impact during fuel production and distribution for every car registered new or second-hand in Belgium.
