Car leasing to be outranked by equipment leasing

The growth rate of car leasing is expected to slow down within the next three years, with equipment financing to begin to gradually dominate the market, according to Septimiu Postelnicu, executive manager of UniCredit Leasing Corporation, the largest leasing company on the local market. “The car leasing market will continue to grow at a moderate rate, until 2010, with equipment financing to become the new growth driver of the industry in the future,” said Postelnicu. Currently dominated by the car segment, the leasing market is gradually making room for equipment financing and for real estate financing. Equipment leasing has reported a significant increase over the last four years: from 11% in 2003 to 21% in 2006 and to 22% in 2007. When it comes to real estate financing, leasing companies are faced with fierce competition from banks, which provide an extensive arsenal of financing products on this segment. That is why the executive manager of UniCredit Leasing is not expecting a significant increase in real estate financing granted by leasing companies over the next few years.