Confidence jumped in the equipment leasing and finance industry this month, according to the Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). The index is 48.6, an increase from the December index of 42.5, according to the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation.
“We still see demand for light and medium-duty trucks to satisfy ever-growing e-commerce business,” said Jim DeFrank, EVP/COO, Isuzu Finance of America, in a statement. “We also see thousands of light and medium-duty trucks waiting for bodies to be upfitted. When the body companies catch up with chassis awaiting upfitting, we will see a lot of opportunities for equipment finance companies in this sector over the next three to six months.”
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One in five respondents (20.7%) said that they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, an increase from 3.7% in December. The percentage expecting conditions to worsen dropped to 17.2% from 29.6% in December.
Some 13.8% said that they believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, up from 3.7% in December. One in five (20.7%) expect demand to decline, a decrease from 22.2% in December.
None of the respondents evaluated the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” unchanged from the previous month, but 93.1% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” up from 85.2% in December.
Some 13.8% expect that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, up from 3.7% in December. The percentage expecting conditions to worsen dropped to 20.7% from 29.6% the previous month.
