SHORT-TERM TRUCK LEASES IN DEMAND BECAUSE OF STRONG EQUITY POSITION

Rising Number of Shoppers Searching for Truck Leases with Eight Months or Less

Cincinnati, OH (September 16, 2014)

Can you actually profit off your lease? You can, but it would likely need to be a truck. Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest online car lease marketplace, believes lessees in certain trucks still hold a positive equity position with a few months left in the term. In fact, the company believes it is a large reason why demand has increased for truck leases with less than eight months on the contract.

Compact SUVs and all Pickup trucks have held strong pricing positions through the life of their three-year lease terms. Drivers of these vehicles are seeing similar lease-end equity positions felt by drivers of fuel-efficient vehicles three-to-four years ago when those vehicles were in demand by dealers. Today, a still-strong used-vehicle market has continued to drive dealer demand for trucks in good condition. Since most leases are less than three years old with 36,000 miles or less, dealers are offering aggressive buy-back deals to consumers.

Historically, more than 50% of car shoppers look to assume an existing lease with twelve to eighteen months remaining on the contract. Swapalease.com has noticed a new trend of shoppers looking for short-term leases for vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler, Nissan Xterra, Cadillac Escalade, Ford Explorer and Toyota Tacoma. Swapalease.com believes people take over these short-term leases with the intention of then selling or trading in the vehicle with their local dealer. In many cases, the equity position can be worth anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 above current value.

“It’s always very telling when we see an uptick in demand for certain truck models because trucks are notorious for having lower-than-average lease penetration rates,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President for Swapalease.com. “In this case, we believe shoppers are taking advantage of the still-tight inventory environment for trucks in good condition, and leased vehicles are always at the top of that list.”