Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) are going bust, so let’s get a great leasing deal in the fire sale… Before we jump to any conclusions, we need JLR to produce formal results and to confirm some of the rumours which have been flying around the press over the last few weeks.
The Times have already take an early jump into the speculation, noting that a mix of China with Brexit uncertainty is piling pressure on the owners, Tata Motors, as they try to quantify an expected £3 billion loss.
The obvious rumour is that JLR will now be sold to PSA (Peugeot/Citroen) who are already fresh-off a recent purchase of another British institution which is Vauxhall.
While Mercedes and BMW would have been our more likely candidates to drive JLR into a more profitable direction, the addition of PSA to the mix is an interesting one.
If they can secure the purchase, they will have one of the foremost European conglomerates which is able to place a car (and van) in every segment of the combustion and electric car/van market. For any customers looking to take advantage, you may need to curb the enthusiasm. While some competitive offers may come about in order to push certain stock, this will be more of a WLTP and Brexit concern, as opposed to some sort of closing down sale.
JLR are a huge part of the UK manufacturing industry and we do hope they find some investment and progression in order for this to be continued.
A big thank you to our Nuthall-based (Nottingham) personal leasing customer for their amazing picture of their new Jaguar F-Pace SUV, coupled with a formidable Trustpilot – take a look at this amazing review about which company is the best to lease from in the UK!
Like many company car users considering the change to a personal car allowance, the customer here was fraught with concern about which would be the best way for them to lease a car – should they have a business contract hire arrangement? Should they take a personal car allowance?
While changes in the UK automotive industry are being “blamed” on the Brexit, they really ought to be blamed on a number of other contributing factors for example company car tax, RFL/VED increases, increasing financial regulation, emission charge schemes and a changing environmental landscape.
While economic uncertainty may contribute to individual and business customers not committing to a new vehicle, there are some other big factors to consider depending on the actual circumstances.
One of the interesting challenges facing customers taking a company car in the UK is the personal taxation cost.
A company car is not free and as this is considered a benefit to the individual, they will have to pay tax on the vehicle. The way in which it is calculated is to firstly understand a car’s P11d/taxable value (being the list price of the vehicle including VAT, vehicle delivery charges and any additional options but excluding its first registration fee and RFL/VED).
The more expensive a vehicle is, the more tax a company car user will be subject to – a Land Rover will clearly cost more than a Ford Fiesta!
The tax can then be calculated using a CO2 banded Benefit in Kind (BiK) percentage.
To help, HMRC create a forward facing table (which is reliable up to 2020/21) which allows some form of planning for a company car user.
Every car will have a CO2 per KM statistic and this is used to work out the BiK; the more polluting a vehicle is, the higher the rate of tax the individual company user will pay. Additionally, the higher polluting vehicles will affect the company’s ability to offset the rentals against corporation tax.
For example in 2017/18 a car emitting 99g/km of CO2 would have an 18% BiK but in 2020/21 this will be 24%.
Compare this to a zero emitting vehicle (pure electric vehicle) which can travel 130 miles or more on a charge and this will attract an astounding 2% BiK for 2020/21! With this in mind, some company car users covering the right mileage are now thinking of making the transition from combustion to electric. For a high-mileage leasing customer, the PHEV compromise might be more suitable?
But haven’t car manufacturers been lying to us about CO2? The “dieselgate” issues from VW, and others, opened up some new thinking about how vehicles are tested for their CO2 and efficiency. Many customers were incredulous with this and have gone so far as to take part in mass litigation against the car manufacturers for these issues. But wait – if the manufacturer were overstating the CO2, does this not mean I haven’t been paying enough tax! Under the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Testing Procedure (also known as WLTP), this is very much the case.
From April 2020 the UK Government will be using WLTP figures for CO2 calculations; until then a correlated CO2MPAS value will be used.
If manufacturers cannot produce the CO2 they consider the vehicle have, the company car user will be paying much more in tax for the vehicle. It may be that alternative fuel technologies will continue to grow as the leading solution for UK company car drivers.
So going forward should I be taking a company car? Should I be having an electric car? Should I take a personal car allowance? This is something we are going to be discussing in further blogs, as we try to give customers the full facts about car leasing and which is the best way to manage their vehicle procurement method. As ever compare the company car tax against liability against a personal car allowance (which is subject to income tax).
Don’t rush into anything just because the lease deal seems to be particularity cheap; the automotive future is set to change rapidly and you need to make sure you make a long-term decision.
In terms of the car shown here, the Jaguar F-pace Diesel Estate 2.0d R-sport 5door Auto (RWD), this is based on the following configuration:
· Narvik Black Solid Paint
· Perforated grained leather – Ebony/Light Oyster with contrast stitching
· Etched aluminium veneer
· Suede cloth headlining – Ebony
· 19″ 5 split spoke grey diamond turned finish alloy wheels – style 5038
As standard the car includes metal load scruff plates, emergency brake assist, reversing camera, 80W sound system, Navigation pro with 10” touch screen, 8-way multi adjustable fronts, sport seats, climate control, heated front seats, power tailgate, ambient interior lighting, 19” alloys, xenon headlights, electric folding and heated door mirrors, cruise control, green tinted heat insulating glass, reverse traffic detection, rain sensor windscreen wipers, hill descent control, hill start assist, premium carpet mats, front parking aid, lane departure warning system, lane keep assist, rear parking aid, traffic sign recognition, pro services with wifi hotspot, auto dimming rear view mirror, Bluetooth, DAB, 360 park distance control ,InControl protect, R-Sport body kit and aesthetics, automatic headlights, approach illumination, LED tail lights, multifunction and leather steering wheel, connect pro pack, leather upholstery, trailer stability assist, keyless start, 40/20/40 split folding rear seats perimeter alarm and immobiliser. In terms of additional factory options consider – privacy glass, smartphone pack and 10-way electric front seats for a perfect car.
On the technical-side company car and business users can note the P11d at £41,220.00 and CO2 at 152g/km. The 1999CC 8 speed auto diesel engine delivers 48.7 combined MPG (EC), 39.9 (WLTP), 180ps and 0-62 times of 8.6 seconds. Service intervals on a diesel Jag SUV are every 24 months or 21,000 miles.
So would you select the F-Pace as your next car leasing option? Or would the Range Rover Velar, Mercedes GLC, BMW X3 or Porsche Cayenne get your vote?
Find the webs best lease deals on the Jaguar F Pace @CarLease UK – or – check out more SUV lease cars below…