The cars repossessed by the leasing companies from the clients who could no longer pay their monthly instalments have been crowding specialised car parks, logistic platforms on the outskirts of the cities and even the car parks of malls and five-star hotels in Bucharest.
Leasing companies are now looking for customers for the 10,000 cars repossessed in the first half of the year, but since such a car is sold after at least 30 days from the publication of the offer, the vehicles have to be kept safe either in car parks or in spaces provided by specialised fairs, where rents vary from 1 to 4 euros a day. At these rates, car park or car fleet managers make almost 450,000-euro revenues every month.
"Impuls Leasing has contracts signed with new and second hand car dealers who have their own storage space. The company does not have its own space to store repossessed assets," said Alexandra Tolescu, marketing manager of Impuls Leasing.
The company currently has 500 recovered vehicles, 85% of which were repossessed from clients who could no longer pay their instalments.
The leasing companies that do not have their own car storage space turn to specialised fairs, which are guaranteed to bring clients.
This is the case of those companies that took about 250 cars to the Autovit used car fair.
"We have a programme whereby we try to bring here companies that have second-hand cars to resell. About 10% of the total parking spots are occupied by three leasing firms," stated Nicolae Ragalie, general manager of Autovit, the biggest second hand car fair in the Capital.
Ragalie did not provide details about the rental rates, but according to the officials of the company, Autovit charges 120 euros per month excluding VAT for a covered parking spot, and 20 euros less for an open-air parking spot. If paid at least two months in advance, the rent becomes cheaper, 60 euros plus VAT.
The high number of one to three-year old cars returned to the financing providers has led to the creation of new departments within such companies, which have to put the cars back on the market again.
Operational leasing company Fleet Management Services (FLS) has invested in the construction of a logistics park close to the A1 highway. It will put up for sale the vehicles repossessed by Alpha Leasing, Tiriac Leasing and AT Leasing financial leasing companies from customers that defaulted on their payments.
The large volume of financing granted over the last three years for the acquisition of cars can now be seen in the car parks of Plaza Romania mall and even at Marriott Hotel. The cars are mainly luxury models, with initial prices upwards of 50,000 euros.
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