Ram Up, Chrysler Down in Q4 Lease Report
Swapalease.com’s Q4 2018 Lease Trends Report finds Ram, Acura, and Subaru gaining interest and Chrysler, GMC, and Buick on the decline.

Interest in leases for such Ram models as the 2018 1500 Laramie Longhorn Southfork increased by an industry-leading 10% in Swapalease.com’s Q4 report.
Photo courtesy Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
CINCINNATI — The Q4 2018 Lease Trends Report from Swapalease.com finds interest among consumers declining for Chrysler (-16%), GMC (-13%), and Buick (-10%) and increasing for Ram (+10%), Acura (+4%), and Subaru (+4%) compared with the previous quarter.
Swaplease.com’s report is based on activity in its online lease marketplace. In the fourth quarter, analysts found more people looking for foreign brands in leasing compared with domestic. Interest in foreign cars was listed at 67.8% in Q4, up from 62.0% in Q3. Interest in domestic leases dropped from 38% in Q3 down to 32.2% in Q4.
The average payment of an existing lease on the road as reported in Q4 was $519.14, up from $510.22 in Q3. The average months remaining on a lease before a person wants out was listed at 29.2 in Q4, up from 26.7 in Q3. Incentives offered by those looking to get out of a lease averaged out to $582.71 per vehicle in Q4, down from $630.19 in Q3.
“During the fourth quarter, we saw mostly stable trends for leasing overall, particularly as it relates to general lease demand heading into the new year,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president of Swapalease.com. “We are interested in watching the trend of the growth in foreign brands for leasing over domestic, and it will be interesting to see how this trend evolves throughout 2019.”
To read the full report, click here.
More Auto Finance

Interest Rates Further Squeeze Auto Consumers
Last month’s hike and a potential second increase this month add to a growing list of inflation woes that could continue to dent overall car sales.
Read More →
Mind Your Process
Consistent steps taken in various aspects of the F&I office can make valuable differences over time, similar to an outline for a best-selling book.
Read More →
Top Five Credit Application Fraud Flags
Compliance audits regularly reveal bad habits that can lead to fraud charges and should have been stamped out decades ago.
Read More →
More Auto Loans for the Taking in August
Riskier categories were on the uptick for the month as lenders loosened access in several areas while balancing out the exposure in another, Cox Automotive reported.
Read More →
July Was Hot for Auto Borrowers
Credit proved readily available for many, but most loans left buyers in negative territory, Cox Automotive said.
Read More →
Dealer Lender Preferences Revealed
When lenders provide consistent, fast service, their overall satisfaction scores with dealers greatly improve, according to JD Power research.
Read More →
Auto Refi Savings Surge
Consumers with 84-month auto loan terms who refinanced saved the most on monthly payments, according to a new report by auto refinancing provider Caribou.
Read More →
Subaru Enters Lending Business
The automaker follows other brands in adding captive financing in the U.S., and says the move will strengthen its position here.
Read More →
Positive Equity Reaches Record High
Mainstream vehicle owners who bought a car seven years ago are likely to have positive equity when trading in for a new vehicle, according to second-quarter Edmunds data.
Read More →
Dealerships Are Paying the Price for Extended Car Loans
Growing negative-equity scenarios mean such lengthy terms should be addressed in a forward-looking way to make them work for the dealer and the consumer down the road.
Read More →