OREANDA-NEWS. August 16, 2012. Within six months of this year, by 23 per cent more cars were leased in Estonia compared to the same period of the last year, in terms of monetary value the increase was 26 per cent, reported the press-centre of SEB. 

Nearly 80 per cent of private persons prefer to lease cars for a term of up to five years. While the operating lease and financial lease contracts (including hire-purchase contracts) concluded by private persons split almost equally, with companies the percentages were 73 and 17, respectively.

Ainar Leppanen, Head of SEB Liising: “The car lease market is influenced by the fact that the lease contracts concluded during the years of record sale of new cars (2007?2008) are expiring and these cars are being replaced by new ones—in particular, it is the case in the segment of commercial vehicles (vans). It may also derive from the fact that private persons and companies postponed the purchase of vehicles during the period of crisis, but have now started to acquire them through leasing. The time will show whether such development is going to continue into the second half of the year as well.”

According to the Bank of Estonia, the average car lease interest within the six months of the last year was 4.17 per cent, the average interest within the six months of this year is 3.75 per cent, and thus the car lease has become a little more favourable for customers with a decline in the base rate. The share of new and used cars leased during the first half of the year has not changed compared to the same period of the previous year: 64 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

According to the Union of Estonian Car Sales and Service Enterprises (AMTEL), car sellers sold 10,449 new cars over six months, representing a growth of 18.9 per cent from the same period of 2011.