Localiza Rent a Car SA
BOVESPA:RENT3
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Good afternoon, and welcome to the Localiza Rent a Car webinar, referring to the results of the second quarter of 2021.
Today with us, we have Mr. Rodrigo Tavares, CFO; and Nora Lanari, Investor Relations Officer. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that this webinar is being recorded and will be made available on the ri.localiza.com/en, where the complete material of our earnings release is available. You can also download the presentation from the chat icon.
[Operator Instructions] I would like to inform you that the values of this presentation are in millions of BRL and in IFRS. We would like to emphasize that the information contained in this presentation and in any statements that may be made during the video conference regarding Localiza's business prospects, operating and financial projections and goals constitute the beliefs and assumptions of company management as well as information currently available.
Forward-looking considerations are not guarantees of the performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as they refer to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors should understand that general economic conditions, market conditions and other operating factors may affect the company's future performance and lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements.
Now I will hand the floor over to Rodrigo, the company's CFO, to begin his presentation.
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Localiza results. One year after the beginning of the pandemic, in retrospect, the crisis has expanded our learning. We accelerated our technology internalization process. We've been expanding our telemetry skills and have exceeded the mark of over 100,000 monitored cars. These skills will pave the way for us to increase our efficiency and launch new solutions.
We are advancing on the front of subscription cars and the car for app drivers of ride-hailing. Localiza Meoo has already revealed a very mature process, delivering a great experience to our customers and confirming the potential of this subscription cars market. In addition, the launch of Zarp puts us even closer to app drivers and makes us even better prepared to meet their demands, enhancing the opportunities in the segment.
We remain confident in the growth avenues for both our core business as well as our ecosystem. In this quarter, we were able to maintain a high level of return on invested capital despite the challenges posed by the second wave of the pandemic in our car rental volumes and by the low level of vehicle production in the country.
During the quarter, we felt the gradual recovery in volume, and we believe in the acceleration of the vaccination process as a potential catalyst for car rental demand in all our segments for the coming quarters. We are confident in the recovery, but we do understand the short-term challenges and reinforced our commitment to austerity in capital allocation.
The cars purchased in this cycle will have a relevant impact on the level of future return. Therefore, we have had the discipline that this moment requires to guarantee the sustainability of our results. For this reason, we have been able to maintain the depreciation levels at historical lows. In addition, the replacement cost and residual value of our assets remains below market benchmarks.
We are focused on optimizing the return per each kilometer driven with a continued perspective of restriction in car supply. We have been very cautious with the availability and mileage of our fleet. And therefore, we're able to extend their useful life, allowing us to keep a lower replenishing volume until supply is normalized.
With the increasing mileage of our fleet, there is additional care with maintenance so that we're able to maintain the levels of safety and quality, aiming to mitigate the impact on our customers' experience. The increase in maintenance cost has a temporary impact on rental margins. To offset them, we have sought greater efficiency in sales, taking advantage of the high demand for cars. We are aware of our short-term trade-offs and certain that we are making decisions with the long-term vision, seeking growth with value creation.
Now on to our webcast on Page 2, we can see the highlights for the quarter. Considering the strong impact of the pandemic in the second quarter of last year, we also have the comparison based on 2Q '19. In the second quarter of 2021, we have a growth of 94% in the car rental revenues year-over-year. When compared to 2Q '19, the revenue was 24.3% higher, even with the second wave impacting this quarter. In 2Q '21, the utilization rate of the division achieved 75.9%, and the average daily rate achieved BRL 82.5, reflecting our pricing strategy and the mix of segments.
The revenue of the fleet management division has been accelerating sequentially and in year-over-year grew by 13.1% due to the combined effect of volume and prices.
On Page 3, we show the financial highlights for 2Q '21. In 2Q '21, compared to the same period last year, net revenue grew 71.7% when compared to 2Q '19, we see a growth of 13.2%. EBITDA grew 77% year-over-year and 54% compared to 2Q '19.
EBIT, helped by lower depreciation, increased 208.3% year-over-year and 96.9% compared to 2Q '19. Finally, we see an increase of 398.2% in net income for the quarter and 135.6% compared to 2Q '19.
To present the details of the second quarter results, I would like to hand over to our Investor Relations Officer, Nora Lanari.
Good afternoon, everyone. Starting with the Car Rental division. As you can see on Page 4, in the second quarter, the number of daily rentals increased by 26.3%, and revenue grew by 94.4% compared to the same period of the previous year. The impact of the second wave was relevant in the volumes and prices of the second quarter of last year, impacting the base for comparison. When compared to 2Q '19, the number of daily rates increased by 16.4%, and revenue rose by 24.3%. During this quarter, we saw volumes resume their growth trajectory, and we are confident about the growth avenues.
On Page 5, we show the result of the efficient management of prices and mix in the segment, which resulted in a average daily rate of 82.5 and utilization rate above 75%, even in the context of the second wave. In addition, it's important to note that as of May, as usual, in the market, we started to offer car protection coverage directly to our customers with a positive impact on the average daily rate.
On Page 6, we show that the network of branches was expanded by -- or increased by 24 in the last 12 months, going from 429 to 453; 11 of those were in the last quarter, which reinforces our confidence in the opportunities for growth. The company has been preparing itself for the recovery and acceleration of volumes as the delivery of cars resumes more robust levels.
Moving on to Page 7. In the fleet management division, we see the average rented fleet increasing by 8.8% and net revenue increased by 13.1% year-over-year. In this comparison, the daily rates have increased by 5.9%, reflecting the pricing of new contracts in the context of rising car prices. We're very excited about what we have seen in the demand and results of Localiza Meoo. The number of orders in the backlog continues to increase, but we are still being affected by the scenario of restricted production and delivery of new cars.
Moving on to Page 8, we show the balance of buying and selling cars. In the quarter, still with a restricted supply, we sold 26,643 cars and bought 28,653 cars in addition of about 2,000 cars and a net investment of BRL 329.2 million. Our average purchase price was BRL 62,600 compared to a sales price of BRL 55,200 resulting in replacement effort of BRL 7,500 per car, showing the importance of maintaining discipline when buying cars.
On Page 9, we show the used car network. At the end of 2Q '21, we had 132 points of sale and 26,643 cars sold, an addition of 35% in the volumes sold year-over-year, which should have been affected by the first wave of the pandemic and more severe restrictions on mobility. The average price was BRL 55,200, 31.3% higher than the prices in the same period of the previous year. The price increase reflects the context of a sharp increase in the prices of new cars, which we were able to capture in our decommissioning.
On Page 10, we show the fleet at the end of 2Q compared to 4Q last year. In car rental, we ended the quarter with a fleet of approximately 208,500 cars, a reduction of 3.6%. The drop in the fleet size at the end of the period reflects in the lower number of cars being commissioned and decommissioned in addition to the smaller number -- lower number of vehicles available for sale. In fleet management, we already see the sequential expansion of the fleet by 6.8%.
Moving on to Page 11. We see that the consolidated net revenue for the quarter grew 71.7% year-over-year and 17.2% when compared to 2Q '19. Year-over-year, net rental revenues increased 65.5%, while Seminovos increased 77.2%, impacted by the sale price, which reflects the increases in the prices of new cars.
Moving on to Page 12, we can see that EBITDA reflects the revenue growth in advance of 77% in 2Q '21 year-over-year, but with a different composition. In the context of lower levels of deliveries of new cars and an aging fleet, the car rental margin remains affected. However, this impact is more than offset by the advance in -- or increase in used car margins. As a result, the consolidated EBITDA margin remains at a high level of 62.7%. To give a little more detail, the RAC EBITDA margin was 38.6% in this quarter.
As the second quarter margin of last year was positively affected by the reversal of PIS and COFINS credits, which helped that quarter's margin by 21.7 percentage points, we also have the sequential comparison. Compared to 1Q this year, the margin dropped 4.3 percentage points. There is a margin effect associated to the drop in volume resulting from the second wave of the pandemic, which has not yet been accompanied by a reduction in costs.
The main lines impacted our personnel and maintenance. The first explained by the increase of 11 branches in the quarter reinforcing our confidence about growth recovery. And the second explained by the higher cost of cars preparation due to the greater number of cars purchased in this division and continued aging of the fleet.
In addition, by starting to offer car protection coverage directly by the company to customers, we have a diluting effect on the margin, at least initially, by the increase in revenue, offsetting the costs associated with claims. As claims management will be carried out by the company, we believe that we will have positive effects on profitability.
In the sequential comparison, the fleet management division had an increase of 2.3 percentage points in the margin, mainly due to the reduction in maintenance expenses due to lower fleet mobilization costs and the dilutive effect of the growth in volumes and revenue on the costs related to structuring and launching of Localiza Meoo, as mentioned in the previous quarter.
Seminovos presented a margin of 14.6%, even higher than the one reported in the last quarter, even with the reduction in volumes sold, which impacts on the dilution of fixed costs. With the sharp rise in prices of new cars in recent quarters, it's natural to expect that the higher margin will continue until cars purchased before the price hikes are decommissioned and sold.
On Page 13, you see that in RAC, the average annualized depreciation per car remained at low levels in the quarter at BRL 603. In the Fleet Rental division, the average annual depreciation per car was BRL 990, 29% lower than the depreciation in the previous quarter. The depreciation at low levels in the 2 business divisions is a result of the increase in new cars and the consequent impact on used car sales prices.
On Page 14, you can see that the consolidated EBIT in 2Q '21 achieved BRL 673.3 million, representing an increase of 208.3% year-over-year and 96.9% higher than the same period in 2019. Here, we'll also have a sequential comparison given the weak comparison base into [ Q ] '20. The EBIT margin of the car rental division was 49.1%, accounting for a reduction of 4.2 percentage points compared to 1Q '21, explained by the effects that affected the EBITDA as car depreciation and the result of used cars remain practically stable in the quarterly comparison.
In Fleet Rental division, the EBIT margin was 73.2%, an increase of 6.7 percentage points compared to 1Q '21, explained by the increase in EBIT added to the lower depreciation and higher margin on the sale of cars in this division.
Net income for the quarter on Page 15, grew 398.2% compared to 2Q '20 and 135.6% when compared to 2Q '19. Compared to the 1Q of this year, the reduction of approximately BRL 34 million in profit is mainly explained by the effect of the second wave and lower volume of car sales in addition to higher financial expenses.
On Page 16, we show a cash burn of BRL 303.2 million in the semester explained by the reduction of BRL 547.1 million in the automakers account.
As can be seen on Page 17, net debt for this semester increased by BRL 484.1 million mainly affected by the reduction in accounts payable to automakers, ending the quarter at BRL 6.6 billion.
As you can see on Page 18, we've ended the quarter with a strong debt profile and strong cash position, including the issuance of BRL 1.2 billion in debentures with a final maturity in 10 years and rate of CDI plus 1.99%. As a result, we ended the quarter at BRL 4.1 billion in cash, an amount that gives us the ammunition to finance growth over the next few quarters as vehicle production begins to normalize.
On Slide 19, we can see that net debt over EBITDA ratio for the last 12 months is 2.2x, a level that gives us the peace of mind to finance our short-term growth with third-party capital.
Now I would like to hand back over to Rodrigo to present our ROIC spread.
Thank you, Nora. On Page 20, we present the evolution of the ROIC spread versus the cost of debt. In 2Q '21, considering the last 12 months and despite the adversities, we see an increasing spread, which reached 11.7 percentage points. We would like to emphasize that despite the high level of short-term returns, the current context highlights the importance of decision-making, thinking about the complete rental cycle from funding going through efficiently allocating capital, generating cash from rentals and selling the cars.
Only from the proper combination of all of these steps can we generate value. That's why we maintain our austerity in capital allocation, so that we are making the right decisions with the long-term vision aiming at growth with value creation.
And finally, on Page 21, we'll talk about sustainability. In 2Q '21, driven by the evolution of the company's purpose, with you, building the future of sustainable mobility, we've continued to advance in our ESG strategy. We've published the third sustainability report in the GRI format with 5 indicators. We've launched Localiza Institute to manage private social investments and have accelerated our diversity and inclusion program with the adherence to the UN form for companies with refugees and received the important highlight in the [ money time ] CSG ranking.
In line with our business strategy and the expectations of our stakeholders, we've updated our materiality matrix, which provides the essential themes that will guide our actions in the short, medium and long term.
Now we are open to answer your questions.
[Operator Instructions]
Our first question is in writing from Rogerio Araujo from UBS. Rogerio, thank you for your question. I'll read that. What is the reason why Localiza has been receiving less cars according -- compared to its peers in relative basis? Is that relating to the price of cars? If the case, couldn't the company buy more expensive cars, especially in the GPS segment? So what are the expectations in terms of deliveries and magnitude coming back to normal?
Well, thank you Rogerio, for your question. There are some different reasons. I believe that the volume -- the production volume and there's also buying cars, more expensive cars really affects our perspectives in terms of future return. We've been mentioning that our commitment is a sustainable return for upcoming years. So transferring that -- the prices and in cases here, would be the cars that wouldn't be feasible given the current conditions, be it in rent-a-car or being it in Fleet Management. So in the second quarter or second half of next year, things should become -- come back to normal completely.
Thank you for your question, Rogerio. I'd like to add to Rodrigo's comment. We see very different price levels in cars that are also comparable, and that also impacts the pricing. And fleet is a segment that's very competitive. So we're very disciplined in capital allocation as Rodrigo mentioned.
We have a question from Regis. You can unmute and ask your question, Regis.
I'd like to discuss -- well, there's the fleet topic that was already touched upon in the previous question. And my question in relation to that is how long do you believe it would take for the situation to come back to normal, right? So as from when do you believe that there is no longer going to be a limited growth, I'd say based on car availability. So what has to happen in that sense?
And specifically in the second quarter, were there any specific effects that made that different from your peers? Another topic that I'd like to clarify with you is the second quarter was probably very favorable for fleet management. On the other hand, RAC suffered more, right, given the second wave in the beginning of the quarter. And I believe that Localiza is more exposed to the RAC segment than your peers. So could you comment about that? And do you believe that the third quarter would be the opposite that at the end of the quarter, if you could comment on the results in July, it seems like it's much higher than average in rates and utilization rates?
Thank you, Regis. About the automakers, it's a global crisis, right? It's pretty much a result of the supply chain, especially when we're talking about the semiconductors. So the chain is not competing only -- with each other, but also chips for cell phones and other products. So there's a restriction in supply in the automaker supply chain, which has led them to lower their volumes and allocate the semiconductors in a global manner.
So today, the comparison of profitability is made by the headquarters -- automaker headquarters, and they're manufacturing cars where they believe they'll get a higher return on that. So I think that normalization is gradual in the second quarter. They -- some automakers suffered more than others. I won't mention any names. But in fact, they did have a much higher drop in production, and that definitely affects our supply as well.
But for -- the second quarter was relatively better than the first quarter. In the third quarter, we also see -- should see a gradual improvement, and that depends on the normalization. And the -- according to current information, it's about second quarter next year and second half of next year. That's where we expect normalization, but that's also going to happen gradually. About Rent-a-car, in terms of your vision is correct. We do have a higher exposure in rent-a-car. And the second wave had an impact that -- on that, even though lower than the first, with a gradual recovery in volumes and rates as well. So the recovery continues, the demand is growing. The vaccination levels and rates have been helping. So we see a growth in all settlements in that demand. And those are the perspectives for the upcoming quarters.
If you allow me, I'd like to take this opportunity with 2 more specific questions on your bottom line. So depreciation went up just a little in the peers. If you can explain that well and the effect of insurance. If you can give us some flavor about how that changed in terms of margin and rates, so we can eliminate that effect?
Well, that's a result of our absolute discipline in allocating our capital. So Localiza has always been a traditional company in terms of depreciation and having competitive depreciation. And now at this time, I believe that that quality that we have stands out even more. That's also related to lower renewal rates, but also being more strict in the way how we take advantage of that demand and growth.
So today, there's a huge difference in supply, even though it's limited. There's a huge difference in terms of conditions, and we are fully aware of an industry that's so capital-intensive as ours, we are fully aware of the need to have that discipline, even though it may impact in the short-term a little. So maintenance costs, for instance, when you compare that to the impact of depreciation, that trade-off is extremely positive.
Nora, can you address -- she'll address insurance, but what I can say about that is in terms of revenues and costs, the impact to the margin is not that material. So the impact to operations, but in the margin, it's not that material.
Regis, the car insurance, let me explain that, it's not actually insurance, okay? It was done through third parties in insurance -- an insurer. But now based on a favorable decision, we decided to offer that car protection directly to our customer. Part of the market already does that. So we estimate that the impact of that change to our average rate of about BRL 3, and that will change in the middle of the quarter, but we're still in a transition phase, and we recognize the claims and losses given that migration. We believe that that will be very positive as the company is going to manage the accidents. Did I answer your question?
Yes.
The following question is from Fernanda, BTG.
I'd like to go into margin again. You well explained why you have a weaker margin in RAC in this quarter. But looking forward, should we expect margin close to 30 -- the high 30s in the next quarter? Or should we see in the low -- margins in the low 40s? So I'd like to understand as well July, what your volume has been in utilization rate to see if you're recovering that to more normalized levels?
Thank you, Fernanda. About margin, just to clarify, first of all, there's an impact from the volume of rented cars, there's an effect of the second wave, even though the first wave is still clear in the second quarter, revenues that we didn't have that was relevant. And in maintenance, as I had mentioned, and the aging of the fleet impacts maintenance costs because we want to guarantee a good experience for our customers.
So we cannot forget our values we have and give them a bad experience. Another relevant aspect is that the number of cars that were activated in rental cars compared to -- rented cars compared to the first quarter increased by 30%. So that's a one-off activation cost that we have with a lower rented base of cars compared to activated cars also affects our costs and a one-off case.
So those are the main points. We also had an increase given the transition, as Nora explained, in insurance to protect the cars. So we had an increase in theft, specifically in some cities, and we also believe that that's a temporary effect. In terms of the future, what we believe is that the volume recovery is coming, the demand is coming. We're highly focusing on renting these cars in the segments that give the company a higher return. And our focus, which is even more than EBITDA margin is the ROIC for these cars. And that guides our allocation in terms of segments and the short, medium and long-term decisions.
Next question is from Josh Milberg from Morgan Stanley.
My first question is, can you review and give us some more detail of the scenario for app drivers? And also the incentive for Uber drivers? We have an understanding that the prices for Uber haven't been going up enough to consider inflation in other costs. So we'd love to hear your perspective on that. And eventually what could be done in relation so that you can have more growth in that segment?
We launched Zarp, so in some cities and dedicated agencies, we believe we'll have more operational efficiencies, and that will contribute to profitability. It's worth mentioning that we're going to -- we increased connectivity and more connected cars will lower our default rates in that segment. And what we've also been seeing, Josh, not only here, but also in the U.S., for instance, there's not enough drivers and not only Uber, but also and the tariff to offset that. In addition to the fuel prices effects that go up, there's the car prices effect.
So we've seen an effect in the driver base and that dynamic tariff will probably affect that as well. We do have a lot of appetite for that segment. And there's a relevant growth avenue moving forward, especially if you consider that with the increase of new price -- car prices of approximately 30% or a little over 30% in the past 12 months, rental is even better option for drivers so that they can test the work with the app drivers and also maintenance, depreciation and the time. So we believe that that context could have a good opportunity in this segment. So we're very optimistic with the Zarp launch.
Perfect. And at the end, do you see incentives, if that's getting in the way the demand in terms of -- the demand coming from the actual drivers?
No, Josh, we don't see that in the second quarter, impacted by the lockdowns, but we do see an important demand here from these app drivers.
I have a second question, Nora. Could you comment on -- do you need as management in their quarter indicating the plans to invest more in heavy rental? Have you talked about that to the market? So the question is do you see a possibility of working in that with Unidas or without them?
Well, the 2 companies are completely independent. They're sticking to their plans completely independently. There is no manifestation from the Brazilian antitrust agency, from CADE, about the merger. So we're not commenting on that strategy. About our strategy, we're always assessing in our plans up to the time being, that wasn't one of the company's priorities.
Josh, just to add to that, that could obviously be reevaluated moving forward, but we are working with the CADE Brazilian antitrust agency for that analysis. So the company's plan is to continue growing the core business and supporting CADE in the decision-making in relation to the business that could be reassessed in the future.
Our next question is from Rogerio Araujo.
I don't know what I did here, but you already answered my question.
Okay. We have a question here from [ Joes ].
Is the company considering in splitting the shares?
Let me answer that. Obviously, the company monitors share prices and in -- and the trading indicators. We're analyzing a process to merge with Unidas with the Brazilian antitrust agency and also an exchange ratio that has already been established. So it's not a moment to consider a split, but we also always consider that depending on share prices of course.
Next, Lucas Barbosa from Santander.
So first of all, I have a question about digitization and internalizing technology at Localiza. When we read your press release, you talk a lot about that in the first paragraph in the opening remarks. It seems like it -- to be like one of the biggest priorities on company agenda. So that's where my question comes from. Could you share some of the digital initiatives that you believe had made you -- or have set you apart from the competition or will set you apart? Could you comment on that?
Lucas, thank you for your question. Well, you did touch on an important point, and that's part of the message that we'd like to convey. In the past 2 years, we've been going through the IT internalization process. Our ambition is to build one of the most relevant technology labs in the country without a doubt. And we are really excited with the initiatives and all the different fronts that we can open up based on that internalization of those capabilities.
I'll mention some of the more obvious ones that you've already seen and try to give you a concept to make this more tangible for you. So Lucas, even related to the Mod 7 purchase last year, we have over 100,000 cars that are connected. We expanded the local -- the rollout of Localiza Fast, and that's more cars and opening more doors for reservation and allocation that's completely digital. We launched Localiza Meoo and the data science capabilities are reinforced and having more connectivity in fleet.
That gives us a wide range of information for us to work, and that's very important. So I'd say that that's fourth avenue of growth, the Localiza ecosystem that will be available through the telemetry. So -- but we also have relevant advantages and operating efficiencies that can be captured to -- in fleet recovery and default and pricing and in the granularity of these movements. Obviously, that requires investment. So there's a consideration in payroll. Our head count will be increased, but it does place Localiza at another level.
That was very clear. My second question is about the growth avenues. You mentioned that in the ecosystem. Can you talk about the opportunities in the ecosystem? Maybe a strategy of offering -- car protection is already one of those opportunities connected to the ecosystem. And you also mentioned that the claims management happening in-house, you mentioned that, right, about managing these claims in-house. Does that mean that you're going to verticalize?
Thank you, Lucas. When you look at our ecosystem today, internally, we always like to say that we're the companies that generate the most funding that washes cars the most that transportation and maintenance the most, we do have a very rich ecosystem. So we're looking at absolutely all the elements in our ecosystem, be it the financial aspects associated to them or purchase and sale of cars, maintenance, additional services that we can add to customer -- for customers.
And the protection to give us a product that will meet our needs. And the entire side of technology that we mentioned in monitoring vehicles and there's AI related to that. So we have that data of each of our customers that are connected. So we assess that in our ecosystem in a robust ecosystem that we want to implement in the upcoming years. So we think of the potential of that and generating value of that adjacency. So we have the competencies to be a relevant player in that. As Rodrigo mentioned, the world of information that we will have access to could be relevant in partnerships and things that we can create for the future.
We have a question from [ Ivan ]. I'm going to read that. I'd like to understand the apparent favoring of fleet management versus RAC in car receipt? And what are the prospectives for each segment that motivated such allocation?
Well, RAC actually received more cars than fleet management. What determines that allocation today is that we have a very long line in orders and fleet management, and we can't make our customers wait in that period. And these cars are specific car models. So every time I get a car specific -- and I have a specific order in fleet management for that car, we have focused on fleet management so we can service the customer that has already ordered that months ago.
So we can maintain our customer satisfaction. And in RAC, it's a group system. So I don't effectively have to have a specific car model. That's what's been motivating allocation even more than any other segment. The perspectives in both segments are very positive, be it in Meoo or Fleet Management, traditional fleet management for companies. And in rent a car, with the comeback, well, by speeding up vaccination and the demand recovering in the entire segment, be it in app or daily or monthly rental, we see a recovery -- a robust recovery in that demand.
Ivan, just to add, RAC is more affected by the pandemic cycle. So that highly impacted our fleet management available. So fleet has a more resilient revenue streamline and many growth avenues in the future. So the message that I have is that we see relevant opportunities in both segments, and we're very careful in capital allocation during the supply restriction, but we believe that there's a lot of space to grow. And in the upcoming quarters, and actually, we get a more robust normalization of production given the issues related to the semiconductors supply.
So now to Victor Misuzak's question. He's from Bradesco. I'll read his question. So first of all, considering that new car delivery should come back to normal only in the second half of 2022, could we consider an upcoming 12 months, we'll see less growth, but a higher ROIC? Second question, analyzing the evolution of the end-of-period fleet, it seems like there was an increase in claims fleet in RAC in the last 6 months and a bit stronger in 2Q '21. Can you comment on these topics?
Well, I'll start and then Rodrigo can add. Victor, even though we have a full normal -- would have a full normalization as of the second half of 2022, we see the issues related to the semiconductors and stoppage in the automakers, we already expect August and September more robust and in deliveries. So we have a volume improvement expected, especially for the fourth quarter and the first and second quarters of 2022, but your logic is correct.
So the maintenance and depreciation trade-off, we are assessing a better use in allocation of our capital. So we can expect higher ROIC because we have certain benefits in that tail effect of Seminovos should last for some more quarters, not only in margin, but also in depreciation, which is going up slower given the price increases this year.
The second question about the end-of-period fleet evolution. The difference between the purchase and sale balance and end-of-period fleet are related to the claims. So this related effect. So we have a higher exposure in the daily individual customers. So we have a higher risk in relation to fraud and claims. So that's why we increased the connectivity for fleet, and I think we'll gain a lot with that in this specific segment, but also in terms of the second half, even with a quarter-over-quarter increase, we had the protection -- car protection offered by the company.
And we've lowered that with our insurer partners that we had and now we manage protection in-house and we believe that that's giving us a great potential in profitability as we're going to manage that internally.
Next question is from [ Rodrigo Faria ].
With price highs and parts and maintenance overall, you discussing to do that more expensive maintenance in Seminovos are not incurring that and having a lower price in Seminovos given this good moment they're going into?
Well, having these costs is still worth it, especially if this vehicle is going to end users and not a reseller. The Seminovos or the used cars market is on a high right now. And we can't deliver a car that's not worth it for them. So it's worth it, given that the demand in used cars is very heated at this time for consumers.
Next question from [ Marilia from Onex ].
First, the low sequential growth in terms of volume and fleet plus 4%, was that given the limitation of fleet? And if you can comment on Localiza Meoo? And the second question, how have you seen the competition in RAC rates given the competition with new cars? Do you expect in relevant increases for the upcoming quarters?
Well, your first -- to answer your first question. We're talking about light-weight vehicles and automobiles. I don't know if you're talking about competition. These special ones are specific niche that we do not operate in. We see an increase in volume and demand, but especially an increase in the backlog. So it is because of fleet limitation we already have these orders, and we should receive them at the end of the third quarter, beginning of the fourth quarter. So we imagine that that growth will increase across the upcoming quarters and towards the end of the year.
We're very optimistic, though, not only with Localiza Meoo, but also with a normalized fleet management, there's an important backlog there. So the increase in new car prices could bring some customers to outsourcing.
The second question, how have you seen the competition in RAC rates, given the increase of new car prices? Do you expect other relevant increases for the upcoming quarters?
Well, Marilia, in that case, we're going to stress the discipline in capital allocation again. We've been very careful, and obviously in car purchases and in decommissioning and managing the kilometers available for our customers. And you can already see that the average rate has evolved in the last quarters on our side. Obviously, this segment is very competitive, and the company tends to I would say absorb all the operating efficiencies in order to maintain the competitiveness level towards the market and maintain a strong level of growth moving forward as the delivery levels come back to stronger levels.
I'd like to add, Nora, it's not clear to me if she's asking about the new car prices increases or the rental price increases. If you're talking about new car price increase, well, it's increased close to 30% since the beginning of the pandemic, and there's still cost pressures that should be added to that. But there's a limit of course. So we expect that new car prices will increase higher than inflation, but not historical levels than what we've seen in the past 12 months.
And that, Rodrigo, does favor the tail in Seminovos in the used cars because it enables us to maintain higher margins until we send -- sell the cars that were sold before the price increases.
[ Bruno de Oliveira's ] question. Could you talk about the specific demand for fleet management clients for vehicle models? Do they want more SUVS? And the second question is how Localiza handling the Fleet Management backlog?
Well, I'm going to split Fleet Management into 2, right? I'm going to call them traditional B2B, so large companies that outsource their fleet and also Localiza Meoo, that's our subscription car product that would focus on SMEs and individuals. And the second one, yes, we see a demand for SUVs, more executive-like cars. So that has been one of the demands for that new product line, new segment that is in Fleet Management. So it's a good purchase for the company. It's a good sale for automakers.
And I'd say that the price is competitive for our customers. In -- specifically in Fleet Management, we see consistent demands -- demands that are consistent with the past. So SUVs is mainly connected to Localiza Meoo. That's why I split the question into 2.
And how is Localiza handling the backlog in Fleet Management?
We're very careful with our customers' perception, and we want to start a relationship on the right foot. So if we don't have an expectation to deliver, we'd rather not sell, but we are trying to meet our customers' expectations in the deliveries, and we do have the issue with the automakers and semiconductors. So the backlog is growing. We're being very transparent with the deliveries. And we believe we'll start to deliver more robust growth as of the fourth quarter, and as some automakers will recover their production, the ones that had a more significant downtime this year.
[Operator Instructions] Thank you, everyone, for your presence. Our IR team is available for any further clarification. Have a great day.