As 2024 draws to a close, we have the festive season to look forward to – and beyond that, a whole new business year. What can fleet managers expect? Which trends should they prepare for? Let’s take a peek into 2025.
New year, new emissions standard. From 1 January 2025, all new cars and LCVs sold in the EU must comply with Euro 7, the newest and toughest standard yet. Euro 1 was introduced in 1992, and EU emissions standards have become stricter ever since. Most attention goes to carbon dioxide (CO2), but the standards are about more. For example, Euro 6, introduced in 2015, pushed for major reductions in nitrogen oxide (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM).
The new norm doesn’t yet phase out cars and vans with internal combustion engines (ICEs), but petrol and diesel vehicles will have to comply with stricter emissions standards. In particular, Euro 7 focuses on NOx, with norms for cars and LCVs reduced by 35% compared to Euro 6, with a maximum of 60 mg/km. Unlike the previous norm, Euro 7 also applies to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), notably to their emissions of PM from brakes and tires, as well as to the durability and longevity of their batteries.
Finally, the applicability of the norm has doubled, both in duration (10 years after sale instead of five), and in mileage (200,000 km instead of 100,000 km). In the longer run, it is likely Euro 7 will be used to regulate access to Low Emission Zones (LEZs). This is not a problem yet, but it will become one as Low Emission Zones, usually in city centers, become more common and the rules for entry get stricter.
EU-wide regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Responsibility Directive (CSRD) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) are making it mandatory to a growing number of companies (and their fleets) to produce detailed reports on the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) they produce.
These GHG are either produced directly, for example from the petrol and diesel that fuels your fleet (scope 1 emissions), or indirectly, for example from the GHG emitted while generating the electricity that powers your EVs (scope 2), or from the emissions involved with producing your fleet’s vehicles themselves (scope 3).
Many of the regulations requiring carbon reporting are dynamic, expanding in range and severity. For example, as of 1 January 2025, companies obliged to report under the CBAM will only be allowed to use the strictest of the three reporting methods. And as time goes on, more and more companies will fall under the obligation to report – not just the large multinationals and their fleets. Carbon reporting requires robust data collection and analysis, and increases the administrative burden on fleets. However, it can also have positive effects as well: by creating transparency and accountability, it will help fleet managers get a better view on costs, and allow them to seek out innovative solutions that are more cost efficient and operationally effective.
As recent years have shown, fiscal measures are a key influence on the automotive industry – notably on the drive transition to electrify mobility and the monthly lease fee. In the markets of northern and western Europe, generous purchase subsidies and tax incentives have stimulated the expansion of the EV segment.
However, government generosity has its limits, and many of those incentives have since been reduced, or even completely reversed. The most notable example is Germany’s snap decision at the end of 2023 to abolish all incentives for EVs with almost immediate effect. This measure alone was responsible for much of the slump in EV sales across Europe in 2024, but other countries also turned off the tap – some more gradually than others.
In the Central European region, the incentives were never that high, and the fallback could never be that severe. In this more measured fiscal landscape, these are some of the fiscal changes that will impact the CEE automotive sector in 2025:
If you listened in to a random conversation about fleet and mobility in 2024, chances are you heard a two-letter buzzword: “AI”. It’s short for Artificial Intelligence, a concept that promises to transform our lives, including the lives of fleet managers. AI is still evolving rapidly. What’s unthinkable today may be commonplace tomorrow. That said, there are certain areas of fleet management where AI has already starting to make a difference in 2024, and will continue to do so in 2025 as more companies adopt AI-powered solutions.
You may not know it, but you’re probably already using AI. It’s increasingly embedded in automotive products and services that enhance safety and efficiency, such as:
These are just some of the ways in which AI can transform your fleet in terms of efficiency, safety, and sustainability.
Where there’s AI, there will be Telematics, and vice versa. Connectivity – provided by a telematics device fitted into your vehicle – will become standard, and essential for delivering the innovative services generated by AI. In previous years, telematics was an after-market industry, with specialized providers fitting devices into vehicles. Increasingly, those devices are factory-fitted by OEMs themselves.
By 2026, 85% of new vehicles will come with advanced telematics already embedded.
In conjunction with AI, telematics can help your fleet become safer, more cost-effective, and more sustainable. The data coming from the telematics device hold all sorts of technical data which gives us already a good picture of the technical state of the vehicle. Interesting data i.e. for the garage to receive prior to the maintenance appointment. Or for preventive maintenance, communicating the data to the garage prior to the appointment for parts ordering or other preparations, reducing down time and better predicting of costs.
One of the aspects of fleet management that will be transformed by telematics and AI is the de-fleeting and remarketing of your vehicles. Where vehicle life cycles are static today, they will become increasingly more dynamic, with AI helping to determine when the resale value of a particular model is at its peak.
Even though it is wise to prepare in the coming year for this next phase of remarketing, changes in this sector are likely to be dominated by more proximate factors. One key determining factor will be the levels of supply and demand for EVs, for example.
In 2025, the used-car prices will increase slightly due to decreasing supply. Inflation, interest rates, and new car pricing are expected to drive demand for used cars. However, higher taxes, including on CO2, may temper buyer appetite – for new and used cars alike.
Good to know: in Central Europe, ICEs (i.e. diesel and petrol cars) still have a 97% share of the used car market.
With EV incentives reduced, the share of new BEVs and PHEVs will remain small – much smaller in any case than in mature markets like the Netherlands or Germany. Due to the absence of registration tax, a significant inflow of used EVs from Western Europe can be expected, adding to the downward pressure on used EV prices in Central Europe. As PHEVs are more practical, their used prices are expected to remain more stable.
Another key factor are the channels used to de-fleet and remarket your fleet’s vehicles. Since 2011, Business Lease owns and operates ‘Cars & Care’ centers in each of its markets, where it sells up to 85% of its ex-lease vehicles, mainly to private customers. Cutting out the middleman means everybody gets a better deal: not just the end customer, who is able to buy the vehicle at a lower price, but also the lease customer, who benefits from a more competitive lease rate.
Via its ‘Car & Care’ outlets, Business Lease offers an interesting alternative to both new-car leasing and used-car buying: Used Car Operational Lease. This program offers second leases on used vehicles, which have been perfectly maintained and come with the usual guarantees and services as other lease vehicles.
Here’s the paradox: as our industry gets more automated, more digital and more artificially intelligent, our reliance on human interaction grows. Plainly speaking, we need real flesh-and-blood experts to guide us through the complexities of today’s fleet and mobility ecosystem, to help us distinguish what’s essential from what’s not, and decide which products and services will add value.
If the need for expert consultation and strategic advice is trending, it’s not only because each of the areas mentioned above is complex on its own, it’s also because they interact. Tax policy determines how and when to electrify. New emissions norms influence which motorizations become more or less attractive. Telematics influences driver behavior, which has an impact on the resale value of your fleet’s vehicles. And so on.
This is why expert consultation is increasingly valuable to, and valued by mobility leaders. For decades, Business Lease has been a trusted partner and advisor for its customers and prospects across Central and Eastern Europe, building up expertise – in terms of cultures, regulations, and solutions available.
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