Both a major player in long-term vehicle leasing and a provider of mobility solutions, Arval stepped up its growth in 2023, maintaining the positive momentum built up over previous years. Thus, as of the end of 2023:
- Arval increased its fleet of leased vehicles by 6.9% compared to 2022, with 1,701,540 vehicles. It now includes 166,363 battery electric vehicles (BEVs), 85% up on 2022. In the last quarter of 2023, BEVs accounted for 22% of new vehicle orders.
- International large corporates account for 440,000 leased vehicles worldwide, an increase of 8%.
- Local corporate segment clients account for 696,000 vehicles, an increase of 3%.
- The Retail segment reached 506,000 vehicles, up 12% compared with 2022.
- With 105,000 active users and 60,121 vehicles, Arval Flex, the flexible model of subscription (including medium-term rental for professionals) grew by 9%.
- The number of connected vehicles passed the 633,000 mark, an increase of 39% on the previous year.
Arval has 8,388 employees serving more than 300,000 customers in 29 countries.
“2023 was an exceptional year, as illustrated by the growth of our leased fleet, the progress we made in numerous areas and the development of our partnerships. We can all be very proud of our achievements,” says Alain van Groenendael, Chairman and CEO of Arval. “This bodes well for the opportunities and challenges that await us in 2024, which will be a year of transition for the market and for Arval. With the backing of BNP Paribas, our employees and our partners, we will continue to spur our growth by offering our customers ever stronger support as they carry out their energy transition.”
Arval’s Achievements in 2023
Record fleet electrification
Having set a goal of 350,000 battery electric vehicles and an overall target of 700,000 electrified vehicles leased by 2025, contributing to the objective of reducing its fleet’s CO2 emissions by 35% compared with 2020, Arval was already leasing more than 166,363 battery electric vehicles as of the end of 2023, an 85% increase on 2022.
To support the adoption of electric vehicles, Arval recently announced the launch of a new offering, Arval Charging Services, which allows a vehicle to be leased with a charging station and is available to both businesses and private customers.
Arval also signed an international agreement with ChargePoint, a major player in electric vehicle charging networks. This agreement allows Arval customers to have charging points at work and at home, with an automatic reimbursement system for drivers and access to a network of more than 500,000 charging points in Europe.
This new charging point offer is part of a range of solutions already provided by Arval and geared towards the energy transition, which include the use not only of battery electric vehicles, but also alternative or complementary mobility solutions.
New international strategic partnerships
Arval further strengthened its international collaboration by announcing a tripartite strategic cooperation agreement with its long-standing partner Element and Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service (SMAS). The agreement will enable the Alliance’s global clients to access vehicle leasing and fleet management services in Japan, Thailand, India, and Indonesia. Furthermore, the Alliance expanded to encompass SIXT Mega Rent in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Together, the partners in the Element-Arval Global Alliance manage more than 4.4 million vehicles and operate in 56 countries across five continents. The in-depth expertise and global reach offered by the Alliance provide significant added value to Arval’s international clients.
In addition to maintaining strong banking partnerships (primarily with BNP Paribas, but also with CaixaBank in Spain and Portugal, UniCredit Bank in Austria, Erste Bank in Slovakia, etc.), Arval continued to work with other major players in the automotive sector, within the scope of international strategic partnerships such as those set up with Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Sixt, Astara, Emil Frey France, MG Motors and Volvo Cars.
Arval works also through white labels with strategic partners. In January 2023, Arval, BNP Paribas Cardif and BNP Paribas Personal Finance announced the launch of their partnership with Jaguar Land Rover, which focuses on integrated financing for mobility solutions in nine European markets. In June, Arval ramped up its cooperation with carmaker MG Motor by launching a joint vehicle subscription offering: “MG Auto Abo powered by Arval”. In October 2023, Arval joined forces with premium electric vehicle brand ZEEKR, alongside BNP Paribas Personal Finance. As a multi-brand leasing company, Arval will continue to expand the selection of vehicle models available to its customers and is gearing up to announce in the coming days a new international partnership.
Innovations that benefit mobility and customers alike
In addition to supporting customers through the energy transition, Arval signed partnerships and launched several offerings to boost the adoption of mobility solutions.
- The rollout of shared-mobility solutions for employees continued in 2023 with an additional six countries now on board. The Arval car sharing offering is now available in 15 countries, with a total of 125,000 bookings made on the platform in 2023 across all countries.
- The Arval Mobility Pass, a simple and innovative solution combining a payment card, an app and a management platform to enhance employer and employee mobility, was rolled out in 2023 with Edenred in Brazil, Betterway in France and XXImo in the Netherlands.
- Available in 14 countries, Arval Bike Leasing was up 65% by the end of 2023 compared with end-2022. To support this market growth, Arval expanded its long-term bike rental offering in France by partnering with specialist startup Zenride.
- As of the end of December 2023, Arval had rolled out its used-car leasing offering, Arval Re-lease, in 21 countries, five more than the previous year, thus providing a smart solution that gives customers access to high-quality vehicles at attractive leasing rates, as well as extending the useful life of vehicles. The Arval Re-lease fleet grew by 139% year-on-year, demonstrating the enthusiasm of customers for this new type of offering.
- Arval reached the milestone of 633,000 connected vehicles in its fleet, a 39% increase compared to the previous year. This puts Arval on target to connect 80% of its fleet by 2025. Thanks to telematics technology and data intelligence, the Arval Connect digital solution allows clients to optimize their vehicle fleet costs, improve driver safety, speed up their energy transition and manage mobile teams more efficiently. With its connected insurance offer, Arval goes even further by providing to its customers a reduction of their monthly leasing rate, based on their driving style. Successfully launched in Italy, this service already shows a halving of road accidents. It will soon be deployed in Spain, in the Netherlands and in Belgium.
Arval’s ambitions for 2024
In 2024, Arval’s main objective in a rapidly changing market will be to build on the positive momentum of recent years, for the ultimate purpose of serving its customers and through the hard work of its highly motivated and committed employees. Also at the core of Arval’s strategy will be the acceleration of the energy transition of fleets. Expanding the selection of battery electric vehicles available, implementing partnerships for vehicle charging, providing expertise and advice to clients for the development of mobility policies that include battery electric vehicles, and complementary mobility solutions that emit less CO2 will be key to this ambition. Arval has already started with the launch on January 15th of Arval Charging Services, an offer which combines the leasing of a charging point with a battery electric vehicle. This offer completes the Arval on-the-road charging card system and the automatic reimbursement of the electricity consumption of vehicles at home.
Moreover, Arval’s overall strategy to encourage mobility was rewarded in 2024 with an EcoVadis gold medal, placing Arval in the top 5% of the companies assessed. This award reflects the commitment of Arval’s employees to engaging in more sustainable activities at all levels of the company.
With most of the plan’s objectives set to be attained in the near future, 2024 will also mark the completion of Arval Beyond, which was launched in 2020. 2024 will therefore be the year in which Arval builds its new strategic plan. The plan will be announced in early 2025 and will mark a turning point in the company’s history.
