At a glance
Leasing companies today face mounting pressure. Costs are rising, customers expect more, and regulations are tightening. Traditional methods of managing fleets can no longer keep up.
The solution? Real-time data. Telematics enables leasing companies to monitor vehicle health, usage, and emissions live. The result is lower costs per contract, streamlined operations, and a better customer experience.
The competitive leasing landscape
Leasing companies operate in a crowded market where most offer similar vehicles and services. With thin margins and price-sensitive customers, competing on cost alone is not sustainable.
As larger players consolidate and new mobility models gain ground, staying competitive means embracing connected solutions. Current fleet information, scalable platforms, and proactive services are becoming essential. As Harald Van Meel of Opendo put it in a recent webinar:
“I think to be competitive in the market, you really need to have a low cost per contract. And the only way to reach that is optimization, get more digital tools in there, but also scale up.”
His point reflects a broader industry shift where digital tools and data-driven decisions are becoming the main drivers of competitiveness. To understand how this plays out in practice, it’s useful to look at where real-time data creates value across the leasing lifecycle.
Real-time data adds value across the leasing lifecycle
Connected vehicle data helps lower costs and improve margins across every stage of the leasing model, from acquisition to remarketing. It supports more informed decisions and better financial outcomes at every stage of the process.
Sales
Usage-based services and proactive alerts improve the customer experience and build loyalty. This supports higher renewal rates and opens the door to larger follow-up contracts.
Regulatory compliance
Telematics automates CO₂ tracking and lifecycle reporting, helping meet ESG requirements. This reduces the risk of penalties and supports sustainability claims with verified data.
Finance
Continuous data improves billing accuracy, reduces financial risk, and helps spot underused vehicles early. Odometer tracking allows for timely contract adjustments and smoother end-of-lease settlements.
Remarketing
Verified data on battery health, usage, and service history increases resale value by giving buyers confidence in the vehicle’s condition.
As Morten Gregersen of Connected Cars, explained:
“You can have a health certificate of the vehicle. So when you have to sell the vehicle, it’s actually sold at a higher price.”
This makes real-time data a practical tool for improving margins at the end of the lease. But its impact doesn’t stop there. Beyond individual functions like sales or remarketing, the financial impact of connected data becomes even clearer when looking at the broader operational picture.
How telematics reduces fleet and leasing costs
Real-time data helps leasing companies cut costs across key areas like maintenance, compliance, and operations. Better data leads to faster decisions, fewer surprises, and more efficient fleet management.
Predictive maintenance
Advance alerts and insights shift companies from reactive repairs to proactive maintenance planning, reducing downtime and long-term costs.
Workshop steering
Data allows companies to direct vehicles to trusted workshops, preventing delays and inefficiencies.
Real-time data vs historical data for simplified compliance
New regulations like CSRD demand accuracy that historical data alone can’t provide. Telematics replaces estimates and manual reporting with high-quality, vehicle-level CO₂ data. This shift improves reliability, reduces admin work, and ensures full compliance.
During a live demo of ConnectedFleet, Nikolaj Munster from Connected Cars emphasized the necessary shift from approximation to precision:
“We’re able to provide maybe the most precise ESG reporting for these fleets, because we get such deep and exact data from the vehicles. They no longer need to estimate based on WLTP values or kilometers. Now they just get the true number of CO₂ emissions.”
Companies can track and compare fleet usage, fuel economy, and charging habits across vehicle types or teams, identifying inefficiencies and acting proactively.
Automated reporting
Instead of relying on estimates, leasing providers get exact mileage, fuel use, and emissions per trip, ready for reporting and analysis. This accuracy strengthens compliance, improves customer trust, and helps manage contract risks before they escalate.
The importance of real-time data for reducing costs in fleet management
At the Global Fleet Summit 2025, one theme was clear across the automotive ecosystem. Cost savings are a top priority for fleets, leasing providers, and OEMs alike.
This is where real-time data becomes essential. By providing up-to-date insights into vehicle usage and operations, telematics helps identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and support smarter fleet decisions. The result is lower costs, higher margins, and more efficient fleet management.
Turning real-time data into lower costs with Connected Cars
Real-time data only delivers value if it reduces complexity and improves outcomes. Connected Cars makes this possible by turning raw vehicle data into clean, reliable insights that help leasing companies cut costs and optimize performance.
High-quality data that cuts waste
Using OEM APIs and retrofit hardware like CC-Link, Connected Cars captures accurate data on mileage, fuel use, and battery health. This supports predictive maintenance, reduces admin work, and enables automation and ESG reporting, lowering costs across the vehicle lifecycle.
Tools that drive efficiency
ConnectedLeasing and customer-facing tools like ConnectedFleet and the Connected Cars App provide diagnostics, service alerts, and real-time visibility. They improve uptime, resale timing, and customer experience while reducing operational effort.
Fast integration, immediate value
With an open API and prebuilt connectors, Connected Cars integrates quickly into existing systems. This speeds up access to insights, enabling faster decisions and measurable cost savings.
Conclusion
Leasing companies face rising pressure to cut costs, stay compliant, and meet growing customer expectations. These demands require more than small improvements. Telematics offers the foundation for this shift, providing up-to-date vehicle data that reduces uncertainty and supports smarter decisions across maintenance, ESG reporting, and remarketing. As outlined in this article, data-driven operations help providers improve performance, lower costs, and deliver greater value throughout the contract lifecycle.
Download our whitepaper for a comprehensive guide on how real-time data can significantly reduce your fleet and leasing costs.