Volatility in car lease credit approvals persists, as more subprime shoppers enter the applicant pool, according to Scott Hall, executive vice president of Swapalease.com.
The car market is growing overall, despite the volatility in lease approvals associated with a wider applicant pool, Hall said in an interview with Auto Finance News. “Results we saw last month were very healthy overall, quite a jump from previous months,” he added. Lease credits for April saw 78.6% approvals during the month, a 31% jump from the approvals rate during March (60%), according to a report released yesterday by Swapalease.com. End-of-month light vehicle sales showed 4.6% year-over-year growth.
The majority of auto lease approvals for April came from foreign brands, the report indicates. “We are a little puzzled, but it is still early to speculate what this means,” Hall said. “We are keeping an eye on it.” Foreign brands have had higher lease market penetration rates for years. With higher lease turndown rates from domestic car brands, Hall expects to see more “used cars in a better condition,” since many of the higher-end brands include maintenance packages with the lease.
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