IRNAPRIL-MAY 2015
19
ERA/
IRN
RENTALTRACKER
Europeon theup
The first ERA/
IRN
RentalTracker survey of
2015 finds a largemajority
in buoyantmood, but is the
recovery fully underway?
Thesurvey
More than 100 companies responded to the ERA/
IRN
RentalTracker survey for the first quarter of
2015.
Thanks all the rental businesses who took
part and to all the companies and associations
who helped to promote the survey throughout
Europe.
The RentalTracker for Europe is a joint venture
between
IRN
magazine and the European Rental
Association (ERA). If you have suggestions
about how the survey could be improved, please
contact the ERA on
or Steve
Ducker,
IRN
Editor,
The sample size was slightly smaller than usual,
perhaps reflecting the end of the first quarter
coinciding with an earlier Easter and the business
endof Intermat preparations.
And the comparative base for many of the value
judgements expressed in the responses relates to
last year, when confidence in the European rental
marketwas lower than it isnow.
But if the RentalTracker’s job is to provide a
snapshot of thatmarket as it stood at 31 March 2015,
the conclusion is that things are lookingbetter.
Indeed, as one early respondent to our related
IRN
100 survey – the resultsofwhichwill bepublished
Feelinggood?
PERCENTAGEFORECASTING
BUSINESSTOBE ‘BETTER’ OR
‘MUCHBETTER’ 12MONTHSAHEAD
(previous quarter inbrackets)
TABLE 1
Nordic
70%
(67%)
Spain
63%
(40%)
UK/Ireland
60%
(82%)
All Europe
60%
(43%)
Germany
38%
(43%)
Italy
56%
(44%)
France
0%
(15%)
Sponsored by:
N
ew year, new positivity. That was the
overriding message from the latest
RentalTracker survey, jointly organised by
the European Rental Association and International
Rental News and the first of of 2015.
In all categories - including key indicators such as
fleet investment and employment intentions during
the next 12 months - the companies who responded
said they felt things were getting better rather than
worse, sometimesoverwhelmingly so.
For instance, 60.2% across Europe said they
expected business conditions a year from now
to improve, compared to only 8.2% who took the
opposite view. That positive balance of opinion of
52 was the highest anywhere in the survey and the
highest in its own category since the fourth quarter
of 2013. It was almost twice the preceding quarter’s
level of 29.5.
Measured
Even in areas where companies may have been
expected to be a bit more measured in their
projections, scores were high. Those who expected
fleet investment to be higher next year totalled
45.1%, against only 14.6% who thought otherwise.
The differential of 30.5 was almost three times the
corresponding level at theendof 2014.
Of course it is necessary, essential even, to be
cautiouswhen taking these figures at facevalue.
Deteriorating
Same
Improving
Balanceof opinion
Q1-15
+19.4%
35.9%
47.6%
16.5%
FIGURE 1
Europe: Businessconditionsnow
Q3/
09
Q4/0
9
Q1/10
Q1/11
Q1/12
Q1/1
3
Q1/14
Q3/10
Q3/11
Q
3/12
Q3/13
Q2/10
Q2/11
Q2
/12
Q2/13
Q3/14
Q1/15
Q4/14
Q2/14
Q4/10
Q4/11
Q4
/12
Q4/13
Worse
Same
Better
Balanceof opinion
Q1-15
+52.0%
60.2%
31.6%
6.2%
FIGURE 2
Europe: Expectations foryear fromnow
Q3/09
Q4/09
Q1/10
Q1/11
Q1/12
Q1/13
Q1/14
Q3/10
Q3/11
Q3/12
Q3/13
Q2/10
Q2/11
Q2/12
Q2/13
Q3/14
Q1/15
Q4/14
Q2/14
Q4/10
Q4/11
Q4/12
Q4/13
