Top 10 novated lease vehicles for 2020

By Neil Dowling on 26th March 2021 Free Access Articles, News Fleet, Novated Lease Vehicles

PRIVATE buyers voted the Ford Ranger their most popular choice in 2020 as data from Australia’s fleet industry showed novated lease vehicles picked by private owners – as apart from business, government and rental fleets – tracked a different path from the market’s best-selling cars.

Fleet Auto News (FAN) reports that the Ford Ranger was the top pick by people leasing cars through a business in 2020.

Its annual survey shows who’s buying what and identifies consumer choices and market trends. It is released alongside FAN’s novated leasing guide.

The trend remains with utes but some observers expect hybrids to start appearing in the top-10 list. However, while the leasee trend may be tilted to hybrids, the problem is supply.

The pandemic’s anaesthetic effect on vehicle production is well documented and is distorting some of the buyer preferences because of poor delivery times.

There has also been a marked swing away from economical and compact hatchbacks. FAN reports that in 2017, the Mazda3 was the most popular vehicle leased by private motorists.

Ford Ranger Wildtrak X

In 2018, the Mazda CX-5 took top spot as strength in the SUV segment swelled and the Mazda found its sweet spot of size, economy and price. The Mazda3 plunged quickly to 10th while the Volkswagen Golf was ninth.

By 2019, the Mazda3 was up to third, the Golf was fifth and the CX-5 remained the most popular choice. The Ford Ranger – which was second in 2018 – was fourth and the Toyota Hilux was ninth.

In 2020, the Mazda3 and Golf disappeared – in fact, there were no passenger cars chosen in the top 10 for that year.

The Ranger led the pack of SUVs and utes, while the Subaru Forester made an appearance (ninth) along with the Nissan X-Trail (10th), Ford Everest (seventh) and RAV-4 (third).

FAN discussed trends with leasing companies around Australia, including FleetNetwork in WA whose general manager Frank Agostino said seven of the top-10 vehicles were 4WD versions and most were diesel dual-cab utes fitted with adventure accessories included in the novated lease.

FAN said while dual-cab utes and 4X4 vehicles dominated the 2020 list, the Toyota RAV4 debuted at number three after sales almost doubled in 2020 compared to previous years because of the success of the hybrid option.

Mazda CX-5

FAN reports that Inside Edge sales and marketing director Andrew Kerr said Toyota and Mazda made up 29 per cent of his company’s novated lease portfolio in 2020. He has also seen the interest in hybrid vehicles increasing.

“While there has been a lot of noise about Tesla – and yes, we have seen an increase in Tesla sales and inquiry – it has been the hybrid cars that have been of particular interest to our buyers and in particular the RAV4,” Mr Kerr said.

“We believe 2021 will be another year hard to predict due to the potential for lockdowns and factory closures should COVID-19 vaccinations and containment not prevail.

“However, with strong employment and low interest rates, car sales will continue as per the current trend. Many of the mainstream manufacturers are launching more plug-in and battery electric vehicles so the trend away from petrol and diesel will continue.”

Smartgroup general manager of vehicle operations Craig Adamson said vehicle supply might change how the top-10 list looks in 2021.

“As you would expect the top-10 continues to show a range of car sizes and prices but the trend towards SUV styles certainly remains,” Mr Adamson said.

Toyota Rav4

“The leading cars are the Mazda CX-5 and Mazda3 which remain strong and we don’t expect that to change in 2021.

“What is changing in 2021, as we saw at the end of 2020, is that the global supply of vehicles is being impact by the pandemic and not all novated providers will have the scale and size like Smartleasing and Autopia to be able to provide good pricing and good supply on all brands and models. That could see an impact on the top-10 for 2021.”

Simplygreen Salary Packaging’s Bobby Karanfilov said he was excited about the rise of the hybrid and EV but is also concerned about stock availability in 2021.

“I’m expecting a number of hybrids to crack our top-10 this year, which I’m really excited about,” he said.

“The only issue at the moment is stock availability. The RAV4 hybrid is selling like hot cakes at the moment and we’re all experiencing growing interest in EVs like Tesla Model 3 and MG ZS EV – still probably a few years off being a Top-10 seller – but really encouraging signs.”

Fleet Auto News has its 2021 Novated Leasing Guide available at: www.fleetautonews.com.au