Thank you to our local personal lease customer, from Leigh (Greater Manchester), for visiting the CarLease UK team to collect their brand-new car – the Renault Captur.
One of Renault’s best-selling vehicles, the Captur is an ideal product for the UK automotive market as it fulfils the “SUV-centric” public. The Catpur is equivalent to a Clio in terms of internal cabin space coupled with a higher driving positon; this is a small SUV option which is aimed for those drivers who want an elevated driving position for comfort/safety but do not want a car which is too big.
With parking for many households becoming more difficult (not everyone has off-road parking), the bigger SUV options in the form of the Kadjar or Koleos would not be most practical. As consumer habits have altered dramatically over the last 5 years; manufacturers are only continuing to invest into SUV options and petrol engines, as they look to satisfy the demand.
The customer here was quite representative of many customers who we now work alongside; they were a company car driver that was instead receiving a car allowance (cash for car) and therefore needed to look for a new personal contract hire deal. The changes in the market have come about for a number of reasons for example:
1. The rentals allowable for corporation tax are 100% only if the CO2 is 110g/km or less – only certain vehicles meets this criteria;
2. As of 1 January 2019, the IASB (International Accountancy Standards Board) have introduced a new policy (IFRS 16) so that all current and future lease activity must show ON balance sheet. Historically, contract hire vehicles were considered an off-balance sheets and so did not influence the gearing ratio for a company. This will apply to any accounts produced after Jan 2019 and will only exclude items which are less than 5,000 Euros or less than a 12 month contract;
3. Company car tax – having a company car is a benefit to the employee and this is not “free”. For any employee using a company car they will pay Benefit in Kind (BiK) which is based on the car’s CO2, the P11d and the employees income tax status (20/40/45%). In a nutshell, the UK Government are continuing to increase the tax which applies to company cars by increasing the thresholds on CO2 for calculation of BIK ratios. Even alternative fuels, like PHEV and hybrids, will not be completely affordable; and
4. Electric grant reduction – the maximum grant is now only £3,500 for a qualifying vehicle. To qualify for this grant, a car must emit less than 50g/km of CO2 and travel at least 70 miles without any emissions. The list of vehicles is still somewhat exhaustive – BMW i3, Hyundai Ioniq electric, Nissan Leaf, Jaguar I-Pace, Tesla Model S and X and VW e-Golf for example.
The interim PHEV and Hybrid models, which were seen as practical cars but with grants, are no longer a cost-effective option.
What has perhaps been complicating the above is the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Testing Procedure (WLTP). While introduced in September 2017, from September 2018, all new car registrations must adhere to these new standards.
The WLTP introduces a new rigorous form of testing, which replaces the older NEDC testing, which was heavily criticised in light of CO2 and MPG scandals in the recent years. In particular the VWFS group have continued to be in the news, both in the USA and Europe, as mass-litigation has continued to gather steam.
Under the new WLTP standards, cars will be tested in a more “realistic” way – greater driving situations, longer test distances, higher average and maximum speeds, including optional equipment and more accelerations/decelerations. What we are probably going to note is that the CO2 emissions quoted will most likely increase, resulting in company car drivers having to pay more tax for equivalent models.
In addition, as we will discuss later, increased regulations under the Real Driving Emissions and congestion style charges are making drivers reconsider their car choices.
In terms of the car shown here, the Renault CAPTUR HATCHBACK 0.9 TCE 90 Iconic 5door (Petrol/Manual), this is based on the following configuration:
· Mercury Metallic Paint
· Fixed cloth – Ivory
· Diamond black roof and door mirrors
· 17″ Explore alloy wheels with black insert
As standard the car includes the diamond black roof and mirrors, extra tinted glass, rain sensitive wipers, automatic headlights, hill start assist, smarthphone cradle, eco mode, DAB radio, rear parking sensors, body coloured externals, LED daytime running lights, climate control, leather steering wheel, 17” alloy wheels, Thatcham cat 2 immobiliser, RAID (ant-intruder alarm), keyless entry, deadlocking system, 60/40 split folding seats, interior touch pack – chrome, exterior touch pack – chrome and a reversible boot liner. In terms of additional extras consider adding – folding door mirrors, the techno pack and the space saver spare wheel.
In terms of the technical details, company car and business users can note the P11d at £16,940.00 and CO2 at 122g/km. The 898CC 5 speed manual petrol engine delivers 52.3 combined MPG, 90ps and 0-62 time of 13.2 seconds.
With the market being flush with alternatives, would you select the Renault Captur as your next car leasing option? Or would the Kia Stonic, Hyundai Kona, VW T-Roc of Vauxhall Crossland X be your choice?
Find the webs best lease deals on the small Renault Captur SUV @CarLease UK – or – check out more SUV reviews below.
