THE Novuna Vehicle Solutions fleet has moved in favour of unregulated contracts as the growing popularity of company cars and salary sacrifice start to alter the composition of the broker funder’s fleet.
Explaining the change in the company’s funder fleet at the first Novuna Vehicle Solutions-branded broker conference, national sales manager – associates, Chris Swallow, said it had seen recent EV growth of 155%, while it currently has an order bank of nearly 5000 vehicles, of which 43% were for EVs and 11% for hybrids.
Chris said:
Traditionally our fleet was split 70/30 in favour of personal contract hire. Today that balance is at 50/50 with business contract hire continuing to rise.
Acknowledging that brokers were being constrained by lack of vehicles for actual delivery, Chris reaffirmed the funder’s marketing support would continue on a monthly basis. He also added that the budget for tactical campaigns had grown from £35m to £50m, mainly to reflect the greater cost of EVs, while he expected a flat year in terms of overall sales at 12,500.
Chris added that Novuna Vehicle Solutions would help fund vehicles if brokers wished to buy a batch of cars or vans.
Increasing penetration of associate channel
With a fleet of 100,000 vehicles – 75,000 funded and 25,000 managed – and four successive Leasing Company of the Year Awards, Chris said the associate broker channel was playing an increasingly important role in this growth.
We continue to support the associate channel which now accounts for 35% of all volume. You are important to us and we’ll continue to develop the proposition.
Backing of the world’s fifth biggest bank
As part of his presentation, Chris explained the recent merger between Hitachi Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance – the world’s fifth largest bank – to create Mitsubishi HC Capital, rebranding to Novuna Vehicle Solutions in the UK and as Mitsubishi HC Capital’s Mobility Solutions division in Europe.
What this means to associates is a bank with a top credit rating, a strong cost of funds, exciting new developments as the holding bank’s first foothold in the UK and Europe, and the potential for new finance products for the sector.
However, there is no change in the leadership team, no change to the culture. We will continue to maintain our personal relationships. In fact we are committed to staying personable in the industry and will not be a faceless bank.
Simon Williams (pictured right), a director of leasing brokerage Bowater Price PLC and a Novuna Vehicle Solutions associate told Broker News:
Novuna really does treat you as a partner. The true test of a partnership is when issues arise. Our colleagues at Novuna always work with us to ensure our issues are overcome to ensure a good customer experience. They are great people to deal with.
What else was announced?
- Novuna Vehicle Solutions buys BNP Paribas specialist HGV fleet, with 43 new employees and 89 new customers
- The funders is moving to hybrid working as it moves to a new office at Newbury Business Park
- There are 101 associates: 34 in the North; 33 in the Midlands, Northern Ireland and Scotland; and 34 in the South.
- 2021/22 associate performance was 12,500 vehicles
- For the first time, Novuna Vehicle Solutions held an awards ceremony recognising the contribution of its broker associates. Above is David Johnson receiving the Best Partner Award on behalf of Nationwide Vehicle Contracts from Chris Swallow (left) and Simon Leake, associates account manager – North.
- More traditional was the excellent clay shooting competition. Here Daniel Pass of Dreamlease takes aim:
- The company owns 21% of charger provider Gridserve
- In May Novuna Vehicle Solutions will provide news of an important new system update
- Novuna Vehicle Solutions is a funder partner of Broker News
Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.
