As General Motors gears up to increase its U.S. marketshare this year, the Detroit-based automaker is putting a lot of eggs in its leasing basket. And with good reason: Its first-quarter lease penetration has hit its highest level since before the financial crisis. 
After experiencing a small amount of lease returns last year, Paddock Chevrolet in Kenmore, N.Y., is starting to see a rise in returning customers with expired 36-month leases. It’s a welcome sight, as the dealership once saw nearly 180 monthly lease returns.
Owner Duane Paddock recently told Automotive News that he expects returning leases to be “full-blown” by November, estimating that his sales team will turn more than 50% of those returns into new leases or sales. He anticipates a few hundred off-lease customers this year, and nearly 1,800 come next year.
For almost two years, GM dealers have experienced an absence of off-lease customers as leasing fell to the wayside in the latter part of 2008, and didn’t resurface until mid-2010. Now, those post-recession lessees are making their way back to Cadillac, Buick-GMC, and Chevrolet dealers, and GM officials expect them to push sales this year and next, a time period that will also see the automaker unveil a slate of new and redesigned vehicles.
Through May, GM’s sales rose 8%, boosting its marketshare to 18%. With off-lease drivers slowly trickling in, and low rates and sturdy residuals on new models to help offer a competitive lease deal, GM could very well renew a large portion of those returnees, especially as those factors helped increase its lease penetration in 1Q13 to 21% from 13% last year. In 1Q10, GM’s lease penetration was 8%.
What do you expect GM’s marketshare to be at the end of this year? Look into your crystal ball, and let me know in a comment below.
