Michigan Chevrolet Dealers Hear Leases Revive as Auto Industry Continues to Improve

April 15, 2011 - PRLog -- DETROIT, M.I. – Michigan Chevrolet dealers may have seen a drop in traffic as customers who visited to lease a vehicle stopped coming into dealerships. Before the recession leasing options were successful with different leasing options and tremendous savings for lessees. Once the recession hit and the credit that was being extended was no longer available, leasing lost its place in line in the automotive industry.
But there is good news. Customers who lease may be seeing a rapid improvement in leasing options as The Detroit News has said auto leasing is back to the its highest levels since 2005.
“That's good news for consumers attracted to leasing because it sometimes offers lower monthly payments plus a new car every couple of years. Automakers and dealers like leasing because it drives sales and keeps customers coming back to showrooms,” said The Detroit News in a recent article.
Michigan Chevrolet dealers are seeing banks starting to lend more freely with rates that are considered to be some of the lowest in history. Also, with the rising of value on used cars, lenders are not as worried about return on investment as resale values are strong.
Michigan Chevrolet dealers like Mark Chevrolet in Wayne, Mich. has said that its dealership is thriving. Casey Cabana, a sales manager at Mark Chevrolet, said leasing vehicles has become the dealership’s No. 1 drive for traffic into its showroom.
Leasing Figures for March
•   21 percent of total new car sales for the industry
•   14.2 percent of total new car sales for General Motors
•   16.9 percent of total new car sales for Ford Motor Corp.
•   15 percent of total new car sales for Chrysler Group
•   29.1 percent of total new car sales of Nissan
Industry experts say that 25 percent is a healthy average for the industry in terms of leasing volume, but warn automakers not to lower lease prices to such a level that sales numbers become inflated. This may only hurt the industry in the long run.
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[Source(s): The Detroit News, US News]