Matthew Boswell (above) is the new managing director of the combined Free2Move and Leasys operations. In this exclusive interview for Broker News, Matthew outlines the brand’s aspirations – particularly around broker – to Tristan Young.
HAVING two lease firms owned by the same parent company was hardly logical, so it was no surprise that Stellantis has merged its two captives Free2move and Leasys.
In the UK the new business, operating under the Leasys banner and using Leasys systems, will be run by Matthew Boswell, previously the boss of Free2move for the past year.
While Stellantis is famous for reducing costs, that isn’t the main reason for the merger, according to Matthew, who says redundancies are not the point.
On the other hand, growth and reduced internal competition is the main aim with the broker channel and used cars earmarked as areas with great potential.
“I think what we’ve got here is an opportunity for growth so we don’t talk about merging, we talk about consolidating,” says Matthew.
“There are certain areas for economies of scale – for instance if we’re talking about discounts within manufacturers. Economies of scale through the supply chain means we can drive cost and we can deliver that benefit to our end users.”
Leasys currently has a team of 92 people and a fleet of around 80,000 vehicles.
And while Matthew stops short of saying what that growth will look like, he says: “We have budgets in place, we have aspirations in place. I think there’s room in the UK market for substantial growth in different channels, whether it be direct or broker network. It all dovetails with the whole European picture of hitting 1 million.”
Globally, Leasys operates a managed fleet of 828,000 vehicles and will need a rise of 21% to hit its target. If the UK fell in line with that growth it could get close to a 100,000-strong fleet in the same timeframe.
Boswell is committed to working with brokers as part of the growth plan.
“We have two channels: direct channel and indirect channel to market in terms of our sales. And when we look at the indirect market, that is through our retail network and also through the broker market, I think by treating each one fairly and making sure that our proposition is comprehensive into each one, that they can operate in synergy.
“I don’t believe the markets fight against each other. I think the markets reach out to different end audiences in many cases.”
For this reason Boswell believes all channels are sustainable with the right approach to pricing.
“In terms of pricing, it’s about making sure that we’re selling the right products to the right people, but also being fair with the pricing and giving everybody equal opportunity.
“So an example would be if we get a batch of committed stock, actually we would go to each of the market sectors and discuss with them what their appetite is for that, where they believe it’s best placed, work with them to create the offering, and create a synergy that works for everybody.”
“What we won’t do is back away from those discussions. They’re really important discussions to be had. Whereas I believe the market has always looked at them in two separate sectors, but actually they work closely together, and I think a funder can work closely together with them both as well.”
How Stellantis agency will work with brokers
A switch to the agency model shouldn’t stop Leasys doing business with brokers.
Matthew says Leasys still plans to sell through the indirect channel after Alfa Romeo and DS, also part of Stellantis, move to an agency model for its retailer networks.
“I’m not going to go into details, but obviously there’s other commercial offerings, commercial policies at play that reward the indirect channel for selling our finance and our vehicles.
“From our point of view, we’re a funder and we want to fund vehicles and therefore we have different commercial policies at play with all of our channels, direct and indirect, to give them sustainability. And we’ve got to make sure there’s sustainability in the market.
“One of our core values is sustainability and consistency. And that’s got to be across the models and we look at indirect separately, therefore we have commercial policies that cover today’s market, but we’re also in discussions with tomorrow’s market to make sure we can offer consistency.
“We’ll be fair in the way that we price and recompense our salespeople and indirect salespeople to sell our product.”
Opportunities for brokers with used car leasing
Leasys sees used car leasing as one of its important sectors for growth and one that ties in with its plans to work closely with brokers.
The lease company already has the systems and product in place to offer used cars and is currently launching used cars to its customers.
Those customers are expected to be both individuals and SMEs, says Matthew.
“It works in exactly the same way as it does with new vehicles. We have a purchase price, we set a residual value and then we finance in between.
“Used car leasing is nice and simple. It offers affordability, it gives vehicles a second life. It also helps protect the residual values, which is really important because our brands work really hard to create value and the last thing we want to do is not be able to support that.’’
“So a secondary lease, a used vehicle lease, is very simple for the marketplace, it helps with affordability in the current climate and helps protect the value that brands build in.”
He added: “We’re not just talking about the vehicles that we get back, we’re talking about all vehicles on the marketplace.”
Brokers will be able to offer these cars, says Matthew: “It’s a straight lease, so it’s available to all of the marketplaces.”
He added that the maximum age for the start point of a three year lease was a five-year-old car or van.
“Actually, if you look at it and the VAT implications and you look at the balance sheet solutions behind contract hire, for some SMEs, particularly commercial vehicles, it’s an off-balance sheet solution. And I think for light commercial vehicles it will be particularly attractive.”
Mathew maintains that Leasys already has the people in place with the correct skills to operate as used car buyers: “We have a big breadth of skills within our team, whether you look at Leasys or you look at the wider Stellantis group, we have massive experience of remarketing, we have massive experience of pricing. I think we have the skillset to deliver this.”
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Tristan Young is an award winning journalist with more than 25 years’ experience reporting on the automotive industry focussing predominantly on fleet and retail. As a self-confessed petrol-head, Tristan has a weakness for car classifieds. When he’s not writing about the automotive industry, he can usually be found outdoors with a small pack of border collies.
