LEASE CREDIT APPROVAL RATES PERFORM BETTER THAN USUAL IN DECEMBER

More Applicants are Approved than Usual This Past Holiday Season

Cincinnati, OH (January 10, 2018)

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports car lease credit applicants registered a 62.0% approval rate for December. The lease credit approval rate decreased slightly from November’s rate of 67.5%.

In December there is always a heavy emphasis on holiday promotions for luxury vehicles. More shoppers interested in these leases typically mean higher volumes of lease applicants, which also come with a higher number of applicants with a variety of credit standings. Compared to lease credit approval numbers for the same month in past years, a 62.0% approval rate is higher than the recent average.

Last year was a very volatile year for lease credit approvals, especially compared with 2016 levels. 2017 saw higher volatility due to factors such as increased numbers of applicants, which can decrease the number of approvals, natural disasters disrupting normal leasing trends, and pockets of well-qualified shoppers with the appropriate credentials for lease takeovers that affected the credit approval rates.

“The increased interest in luxury vehicles around the holiday season means that fewer applicants are typically approved for leases,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President of Swapalease.com. “Looking ahead to 2018, we have historically seen stronger lease credit approvals in the spring, and we are hopeful that trend continues this year. With auto sales falling slightly in 2017, many dealers and OEMs are expected to keep leasing at a healthy level, with plenty of promotions and aggressive pricing into 2018.”