A panel of speakers at the BVRLA Industry Insight Conference today (4th December 2025) has warned that the Government is “not engaging” with the leasing and rental industry.
The BVRLA Outlook panel featured speakers from across the fleet, rental and leasing sector, who discussed the Autumn Budget, the outlook for 2026 and upcoming challenges for the sector.
Gary Smith, managing director at Europcar, said that margins will take on the greatest importance for leasing and rental firms in 2026, as opposed to profits.
Smith said: “There is no consistency [from the Government] in approach to decarbonisation.
“There is a crunch coming. Something has to give, because OEMs are not going to meet [ZEV Mandate] commitments.”
Stewart Cahill, assistant vice president rental UK and Ireland at Enterprise, said: “It’s surprising how little the Government is engaging with the industry.
“Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) were a great way for customers to try before they buy [an electric vehicle], but now customers are being put off by the pence-per-mile scheme.”
Cahill said that the Government lacked a business-focused mindset.
Per Voegerl, managing director at URG, said that the Government should consider putting additional fuel duty on petrol and diesel vehicles, in order to increase the attractiveness of electric vehicles (EVs), although it “doesn’t have the political will to do that.”
Richard Jones, CEO at Zenith, said: “Now is a really important time for all organisations to work out their purpose.
“Businesses should build multi-cycle business models.”
Jones said that the Government had a “lack of co-ordination on decarbonisation” and that company shareholders will not keep funding policy mistakes.
He said that some members of the Government “understand our issues and are just as flabbergasted as us”, when speaking about the pence-per-mile tax on EVs.
Vincent St Claire, managing director at Fleet Assist, said: “We are entering a new era of cross-industry collaboration.”
He said that he does not remember a time where the supply chain was under such severe stress and that operators should be more proactive with scheduling downtime.
St Claire added that data and technology are key in enabling this, through identifying issues before they force a vehicle off-road.
Lakshmi Moorthy, managing director at Arval, said: “Change is our new normal.
“We need to find win-win areas to improve margins, taking out costs and adding value for the customer.”
Moorthy suggested looking to technology, such as connected cars, which can improve driver safety and bring down insurance costs.
She said she is encouraged by signs that used car dealerships are buying more EVs for stock.
