More SMEs choose business car leasing

MORE SMEs are turning to business car leasing according to the biggest player in the business car finance game, Lex Autolease.

The company increased its small and medium sized customer base by 22 per cent last year. And it reckons even more SMEs are ready to contract hire their cars in 2013.

More than 9400 new SME business customers opted to lease or buy their vehicles through Lex Autolease last year, increasing the total size of the company’s small and medium sized customer base to 42,000 businesses.

Last year also saw sole traders and smaller firms becoming more aware of the costs associated with running company vehicles and increasingly opting for more economical and fuel efficient vehicles.

The result was the average CO2 emissions across the firm’s SME customer base fell by 10 per cent over a two year period, from 148g/km in 2010, to 135g/km last year.

Tony Murtagh, head of SME at Lex Autolease, said: “Small and medium sized companies have a crucial role to play in helping to improve the UK’s economic fortunes. A large percentage of these businesses rely upon their vehicles to carry out their day to day operations and we want to provide them with the support they need to keep on the road.

“The support that we offer includes helping them to select the most appropriate type of vehicle for their business, analysing the different funding options available and guidance on how to best manage fuel costs.