In 2014 ALD Automotive expanded its fleet by 9.8% to 1,107,376 vehicles and saw its full service leasing business rise by 6.5% to a total of 813,889 contracts. In all, full service leasing accounted for 73.5% of the total ALD fleet, with vehicles under fleet management making up the remaining 26.5%.

ALD’s Spanish business added 25,000 new contracts in 2014, in France the company took on 22,500 more vehicles, while the business in the UK grew by 14.1% and added 13,800 new contracts.

Business in South America proved brisk with the fleet in Brazil expanding by 29.6%, representing an additional 4,300 vehicles. Growth in Mexico was also impressive with 3,700 new contracts, a growth of 26.6%. In 19 of the countries where ALD International is represented, the company recorded double digit percentage growth in business, notably in Poland, Norway and India.

In the emerging Eastern European countries, the fleet grew from 66,102 cars to 72,748 cars in a region that includes both Russia and the Ukraine, where business is currently under pressure.

Growth across Europe has largely been impressive for ALD, but there are challenges elsewhere.

“There are the difficulties of Brazil’s recession and difficulties in Ukraine, where the combination of economic and political factors are making the overall picture in emerging markets quite uncertain,” says ALD International CEO Mike Masterson, “In Europe I would be surprised if we don’t have a steady improvement like we had last year and probably a slightly higher improvement in Spain and Italy.”

Business is more challenging in eastern Ukraine, where it is impossible to obtain insurance, effectively preventing new business opportunities at the moment.

Prospects are brighter in countries like Mexico and India, where ALD has already seen double‐digit growth in 2014. In India for instance, the company added 1,300 new contracts, a growth of 14.9%.

Masterson expects to see that level of growth continuing into the future: “At the moment, looking at where we stand today, because of the relative immaturity of the market, we’re probably looking at lower double‐digit growth, but clearly the potential is substantial, given the size of the vehicle parc and the population.”

Looking at the broader picture, Masterson sees the scale of the company’s operations as a key factor in its success. It is this that he believes has helped ALD to deliver value. “The other conclusion from that is that on a global scale, there are some real economies that are coming through for customers. We’ve seen over a couple of years, our average lease rate has dropped by around 10%, over a period where the average investment per car has been flat. There’s clearly a trend downwards, which comes from scale, purchasing, more efficiency in delivering the services and also a very competitive environment.”

ALD has also launched a number of corporate mobility products in the past year or so, but growth for these has been limited, “We’re waiting for the market to move and doing a lot of consultation with customers, but at the moment, the volumes are relatively modest,” says Masterson.