Nearly PLN 120bn: the leasing industry financed corporate investment worth that amount in 2025—up 8% year on year. The market’s main growth engine was passenger cars. Leasing is also playing an increasingly important role in funding electric-vehicle purchases. After seven quarters of declines, leasing-financed spending on heavy transport vehicles rose as well. This year, the industry expects a similar 8% growth rate, driven largely by private investment revived with support from European Union funds.
“2025 was a good year for the leasing industry. We achieved growth of more than 8%, financing assets worth PLN 119.5bn. That’s a record for our sector. Growth was fueled primarily by higher financing of light vehicles, passenger cars—up more than 11%,” Monika Constant, President of the Polish Leasing Association (Związek Polskiego Leasingu, ZPL), told Newseria.
Vehicles dominated the structure of leasing-financed investment in 2025, accounting for 73.8% of the total, including light vehicles at 56.4% (PLN 67.4bn).
“Light vehicles have been the market’s engine for three years now,” stressed Marcin Nieplowicz, Chief Economist at Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy and ZPL.
According to ZPL data, the number of financed vehicles increased markedly, while the average transaction value declined. Although the smallest companies still dominate the client mix in the light-vehicle segment, 2025 also saw growth in consumer leasing aimed at individuals. It accounted for around 4% of financing in the light-vehicle segment and about 2% of the entire market.
“These are not big levels yet, but we can see the importance of this sector doubling,” the ZPL chief economist noted.
Industry experts point to the NaszEauto program as an important driver—Poland’s government support scheme for purchasing, leasing, or long-term renting a new electric car. The program launched in February 2025, and its budget (nearly PLN 1.2bn) was exhausted on 27 January 2026. ZPL says applications for leasing or rental significantly outnumbered those for direct purchase, suggesting a growing role for these financing tools in transport electrification.
Based on data from the Polish Automotive Industry Association (Polski Związek Przemysłu Motoryzacyjnego) cited by ZPL, a total of 29,000 EVs registered on the Polish market last year were financed through leasing or rental. That represents a threefold increase in their share of new registrations compared with the previous year. In 2025, leasing and rental together accounted for the registration of every second new car in Poland.
“We also noticed growth in financing for heavy transport vehicles. We’re pleased, because over the last seven quarters that sector had been experiencing declines,” said Monika Constant.
“Especially the second half of 2025 showed that the next year should already be better,” assessed Marcin Nieplowicz.
Over the full year, the value of the heavy transport vehicle segment rose by 4.4% year on year to PLN 19.7bn. The rebound may have been supported by an economic pickup in euro area industry, which began translating into improved sentiment among transport companies and a gradual recovery in export conditions.
Financing for machinery and equipment represented 22.3% of the leasing market’s value in 2025. This segment grew more slowly than others—up 1.7% year on year. Results were boosted mainly by investment in agricultural machinery (+24.5% versus 2024), while financing for construction machinery pulled the segment down (nearly -10%). Here too, the number of transactions rose while their average value fell.
“More than 8% growth in the leasing market shows it is one of the most popular forms of asset financing among entrepreneurs in Poland. It’s convenient from a tax perspective, flexible, and practical,” said the ZPL president.
The association estimates that in 2026 the market’s value will increase to PLN 129.7bn.
“Leasing companies expect that the total value of investment financed via leasing or a leasing loan this year will be 8% higher than in 2025. Machinery should grow the fastest, but we also expect close to 8% growth in financing for light and heavy vehicles,” said Marcin Nieplowicz. “So the growth should be much more balanced.”
The positive outlook is supported by a build-up of large investments financed from funds under Poland’s National Recovery Plan (KPO) and the ongoing EU financial perspective. ZPL estimates that investment spending financed from these sources could reach around PLN 182bn, versus PLN 63bn last year. These funds may be a strong catalyst for private investment, including in the SME sector.
“Leasing services are used most intensively by micro and small entrepreneurs. Clients with annual turnover of up to PLN 5m account for 53% of the leasing market,” said the ZPL chief economist.
Among the key challenges for 2026, the industry points to continued digitalization and making full use of deregulation introduced in 2025—above all, the ability to conclude leasing contracts in documentary form, without the need for traditional written signatures or a qualified electronic signature.
One of the sector’s major challenges this year will be work on a new EU regulation concerning so-called clean corporate vehicles (Clean Corporate Vehicles). In a draft proposal presented by the European Commission in December 2025, it was assumed that from 2030 large companies registering corporate cars would have to ensure a specified share of low- and zero-emission vehicles. In ZPL’s view, the proposed levels are overly ambitious and would in practice shift the burden of fleet transformation onto leasing and rental companies.
“SMEs account for over 70% of our customers, so a solution intended primarily for large companies and corporations may end up affecting even the smallest businesses as collateral damage,” warned Monika Constant. “In 2026 the final vision of this Commission initiative will take shape. As the leasing and rental industry, we have launched an active dialogue with the Ministry of Climate and Environment and with Polish MEPs to present our position and protect Polish entrepreneurs from a mandate to electrify their fleets.”
As the Polish Leasing Association emphasizes, corporate fleet transformation should move forward, but through market mechanisms—within stable and predictable regulatory frameworks—and based on financial and tax incentives rather than rigid, top-down quantitative targets.
