Leases buoy market, add factory risk: Wrong guess on residuals is a financial time bomb

摘要

Leasing is back in a big way - and that comes with risks as well as rewards. Through June, almost 26 percent of new-vehicle deals in the United States involved a lease, up from 21 percent for all of 2010 and way up from the recession trough of 17 per- cent in 2009, says Edmunds.com. On the upside, leasing moves the metal because monthly payments are low. But guessing wrong on what those vehicles will be worth three years later means heavy losses.