Chrysler Sees Leasing Climbing With the Launch of Chrysler Capital

Chrysler expects dealers to almost double the leases of new vehicles once the Chrysler Capital JV is launched on May 1st.

Still, Peter Grady, Chrysler’s vice president of network development and fleet, said that the automaker will not try to boost sales with leasing, instead it will stick with the industry average. He added that Banco Santander’s size and the low cost funds will give Chrysler Capital the possibility to offer competitive leases in more segments.

The deal “gives us an opportunity to really get aggressive in some places where we currently don’t play,” said Grady at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention.

As Chrysler is the only automaker in Detroit without its own finance arm, Chrysler Capital JV will use the car maker’s name and Santander’s balance sheet to give consumer financing, commercial and real estate loans, and wholesale floorplanning, through the US automaker’s 2,500-dealer network, including those from Fiat.

“If you go too much into leasing, it can be a heavy [cost] because you always pay on the back end with too many off-lease vehicles in a particular segment,” Grady said. “But I think we’ll want to be at about that 18 percent, and I think we’ll get there. It won’t take that long.”