Major leasing firms see their business melt down

The first six months saw financing granted by most large leasing firms plummet, mainly as a result of the car market meltdown and the frozen investments in industrial equipment. The biggest leasing firms domestically ended the first half with at least half the turnover against the same period of 2008, as the main customers – companies, halted investments in car fleets or industrial and constructions equipment. Firms such as Porsche Leasing, NBG, Impuls and VB Leasing, among the top ten firms on this market, registered drops of between 43% and 61% in the value of financed goods in the first six months. Afin Leasing was the exception, with the company mainly financing the acquisition of Iveco trucks. During this period, the company reported 49% higher granted financing. After slumps of above 50% in the first six months of the year, which will maintain in the early autumn, the general manager of Impuls Leasing, Razvan Diaconescu, says financing will stall in November as the market had already fallen considerably in the same period of last year. The rising unemployment rate and the lower wages and bonuses of potential retail clients also dented leasing firms’ turnovers.