Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chuck Smith on November 17, 2009 at 12:57pm

The only one I remember was the GM EV1 in California. Is this new technology that Mercedes has introduced and they are just "testing" for right now?? If it is lease only with no purchase option at the end, then Mercedes gets it back, like GM did with the EV1.

Permalink Reply by Marcie Belles on November 17, 2009 at 1:45pm

Here's what I know: The ML450 Hybrid is powered by a gasoline engine plus two electric motors, and the 2-mode hybrid system was co-developed with GM, BMW, and Chrysler. So it sounds like it's probably some kind of test. I don't think the vehicle is being sold in Europe.

What did GM do with the EV1s when it got them back?

Permalink Reply by Chuck Smith on November 17, 2009 at 2:33pm

They crushed all of them but a couple, that were disabled and donated to museums. Here is the Wikipedia link on them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1

Permalink Reply by Marcie Belles on November 17, 2009 at 2:44pm

Thanks for the link, Chuck.

Not sure what your thoughts are, but at $600/month, I don't think Mercedes is gonna have too many takers.

Permalink Reply by Chuck Smith on November 17, 2009 at 2:57pm

I agree, it seems a little pricey. But, if they position it in the market correctly, there could be a lot of "Green Yuppie" demand!!

Marcie Belles said:

Thanks for the link, Chuck.

Not sure what your thoughts are, but at $600/month, I don't think Mercedes is gonna have too many takers.

Permalink Reply by Jerry Thompson on November 17, 2009 at 3:24pm

Marcie,

Depending on the warranty they offer with the lease, $659 is not a large payment in today's lease market for a pricey Mercedes SUV. If they offer a warranty to match the lease terms I think a lot of people will take the plunge. It will be interesting to see the residual numbers, the end of term options and the warranty. If you find any specifics, please post them or forward them to me.

Permalink Reply by Adam M. Berger on November 18, 2009 at 9:25am

Pleased to see Jerry responded to this point. Before reading his post, I would have stated identical points to his. $659 is frankly cheap for a $50,000+ SUV in today's lease market. Average payments aren't $400/mo any longer with realistic residual values and intrest rates imputed into leases as of late. MB will find plenty of takers for this deal, but I suspect the customer's purchase option may be second place to MB.

Permalink Reply by Marcie Belles on November 18, 2009 at 11:55am

No details as yet, Jerry. I called a local dealer who said they're having a webcast this afternoon to learn more about the program. And they're slated to get one of the hybrids in at month's end.

As to the point about $659 being a cheap monthly payment for a $50k vehicle, I hear you. I guess I just figured the market for $50k vehicles was a little diminished at this point.

Permalink Reply by Marcie Belles on November 25, 2009 at 1:44pm

Here's another lease-only vehicle: the Lexus LFA supercar. Granted, at $375,000, the price tag on this one is a lot higher than the ML450's.

Lexus will product 500 LFAs, which it will offer for two-year leases. The reason: to avoid consumers reselling the cars for profit.

Here's an article about the program.

And here's a link with a couple videos of the sports car, slated for production from December 2010 to December 2012.

Permalink Reply by Alex Kwanten on December 4, 2009 at 11:31am

Honda also has a lease-only program for the FCX, it's hydrogen-fuel-cell car. But considering the technology and the cost of building each one, releasing them to the public is more of a PR move than anything they'll profit from. They had a similar program for the EV Plus, it's own electric car, from 1997 to 1999.

GM took a huge amount of flack for crushing the EV1's, but Honda did the same with most of the EV Pluses. The costs of supporting such low volume cars for years on end was prohibitive - and many of the people who mourned the EV1 would not have wanted to have to deal with repairing one without the help of the OEM.

I think Lexus is sort of kidding themselves with the long-delayed LFA - I don't see it being "flipped" for a profit like Ferrari F40's of old unless it's very, very good. Mercedes' McLaren SLR is now on deep discount after once being regarded as the be-all, end-all. Even it's designer, Gordon Murray, doesn't care for it anymore.

Possible lease-only vehicles that may debut this coming year: Nissan Leaf (a full electric), Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive.

Permalink Reply by Marcie Belles on December 21, 2009 at 11:38am

Toyota plans to start leasing 150 of its Prius plug-in hybrids to governments and businesses in the U.S. around February, before offering retail sales of tens of thousands in two years. The North American arrival is part of a rollout of 600 units in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.

The plug-in Prius is nearly identical to the third-generation Prius launched earlier this year, except that it operates on lithium ion batteries, instead of nickel-metal hydride ones, which allows for higher voltage and more energy storage.

As for lease and retail pricing details, Toyota would say only that the plug-in Prius would be "affordable."

Permalink Reply by Marcie Belles on March 1, 2010 at 4:11pm

Tesla Motors has a lease deal on its $111,000 electric Roadster.

Here are the details: It’s a three-year, 30,000-mile lease for $1,658 per month. The lease requires a $9,900 down payment, plus an $895 acquisition fee.

Lessees will have the option to buy their cars at lease-end.