Swade
08-27-2008, 06:07 AM
Yes, it’s true.
According to Business Week (http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/aug2008/bw20080825_862083.htm) magazine, Saab’s own 9-7x SUV is the second most leased vehicle in the US market. Of course, this isn’t by straight lease numbers, it’s by lease penetration. There were only 2,321 units of the 9-7x moved in the 12 months to 31 July 2008. That’s not a high number. BMW write more lease business than that in a month. It’s the 82.2% lease penetration that puts the 9-7x at #2 on the list. Only the BMW 7-series is higher.
That lease penetration figure represents the percentage of vehicle sales that involved lease contracts. So of those 2,321 9-7x’s sold, 1,908 of them were leased. And I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that a large proportion of those leases were to GM employees. It’s their inexpensive way of moving up to a better SUV.
Seven of the top 10 leased vehicles in the US in 2008 were German and the most represented Teuton was BMW, with three vehicles. Mercedes and Audi both had two.
The Business Week article gives a great overview of how leasing works. It’s a really good primer for those who are unfamiliar with the process. It’ll give you a better understanding as to why leasing incentives for GM are out the window, making way for bigger cash purchase incentives and low interest loans.
Right now, in the US market, the cash incentives are in addition to GM Employee Pricing. This means a Saab 9-3 2.0T Sport Sedan’s selling for around $25K instead of the MSRP of around $29K. This isn’t applicable to lease purchasing.
The customer cash on that 9-3 is $2,000. Customer cash of a whopping $8,000 is available on the Saab 9-7x, an indication of just how far they’re willing to go to get people buying this vehicle instead of the traditional lease.
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http://www.trollhattansaab.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/0997pr.jpg (http://www.trollhattansaab.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/0997pr.jpg)
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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/trollhattansaab/ceTX?i=pJPGgK</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/trollhattansaab/ceTX?a=pJPGgK)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/trollhattansaab/ceTX/~4/376054584
According to Business Week (http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/aug2008/bw20080825_862083.htm) magazine, Saab’s own 9-7x SUV is the second most leased vehicle in the US market. Of course, this isn’t by straight lease numbers, it’s by lease penetration. There were only 2,321 units of the 9-7x moved in the 12 months to 31 July 2008. That’s not a high number. BMW write more lease business than that in a month. It’s the 82.2% lease penetration that puts the 9-7x at #2 on the list. Only the BMW 7-series is higher.
That lease penetration figure represents the percentage of vehicle sales that involved lease contracts. So of those 2,321 9-7x’s sold, 1,908 of them were leased. And I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that a large proportion of those leases were to GM employees. It’s their inexpensive way of moving up to a better SUV.
Seven of the top 10 leased vehicles in the US in 2008 were German and the most represented Teuton was BMW, with three vehicles. Mercedes and Audi both had two.
The Business Week article gives a great overview of how leasing works. It’s a really good primer for those who are unfamiliar with the process. It’ll give you a better understanding as to why leasing incentives for GM are out the window, making way for bigger cash purchase incentives and low interest loans.
Right now, in the US market, the cash incentives are in addition to GM Employee Pricing. This means a Saab 9-3 2.0T Sport Sedan’s selling for around $25K instead of the MSRP of around $29K. This isn’t applicable to lease purchasing.
The customer cash on that 9-3 is $2,000. Customer cash of a whopping $8,000 is available on the Saab 9-7x, an indication of just how far they’re willing to go to get people buying this vehicle instead of the traditional lease.
-
http://www.trollhattansaab.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/0997pr.jpg (http://www.trollhattansaab.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/0997pr.jpg)
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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/trollhattansaab/ceTX?i=pJPGgK</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/trollhattansaab/ceTX?a=pJPGgK)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/trollhattansaab/ceTX/~4/376054584