Social leasing, this strong measure that Emmanuel Macron wanted during his 2021 presidential campaign, will not last long. Not that the proposal was poorly drafted, but she was a victim of her success.

With 20,000 files planned for the database, the government quickly became enthusiastic about the system and opened the floodgates earlier in the year, expanding to 50,000 files. And there it quickly filled up. today, social leasing can no longer be used, quotas are exhausted. You’ll have to wait until 2025 to try your luck again.

Stellantis’ big winner in social leasing

This device also pleased the most vigilant manufacturers, or at least the ones the government wanted to favor, namely the French manufacturers. Indeed, for others, such as Volkswagen or even Hyundai, they were not necessarily consulted by the government and could only form their proposals late, weeks after those of Stellantis or Renault. When their offers were announced, the quota of files was almost reached, if not completely.
But who will win in the end? This is Stellantis, through Citroën, Peugeot and Fiat. Approximate with planned deployment 38,000 carsStellantis assigns a dominant market share of 76% in 2024 of social leasing, out of a total of 50,000 cars of all brands. At Stellantis, the number of applications for social leasing reached almost 200,000, well above the established limit. However, note that not all files met the social leasing criteria.

What is the future of this device?

This situation naturally raises questions about the future of the system in 2025. Stellantis representatives confirm their desire to strengthen this initiative in cooperation with the government in the coming years. A low number of available cars was allocated and Industry Minister Roland Lescure urged French manufacturers to speed up production. however, Production figures presented by Stellantis show that production capacity is significantly outstripping demand for social rent. Who is right, who is guilty?
Uwe Hochgeschurz, director of Stellantis operations in Europe, provides part of the answer by stressing that production is not the limit, suggesting that other factors such as budget issues may affect the future scale of the system. And he is not entirely wrong, since the cost of social leasing has been 650 million euros, with a state contribution of 13,000 euros per car. In the current context, where the government is looking to save €10 billion, budgetary implications will undoubtedly play a role in future decisions. Because yes, this system was expensive, very expensive even for a few weeks, and the limit on the number of files was certainly not limited to the production of Stellantis at this level, rather not the budget allocated for these subsidies.

The next step for Stellantis and the government will be to assess the impact of social leasing on its original objective by analyzing the profile of customers who have taken advantage of the system.

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