Now Is the Best Time to Lease a Commercial Vehicle

Allan Levine

Chief Operating Officer

Getting new vehicles in the beginning of the model year is the best time to make acquisitions for your company. Manufacturer’s fleet incentives and having a vehicle at the beginning of a model year will allow your company to maximize the ideal financial time for holding a vehicle for the best resale options.

For example, a new 2011 held for three years will be sold as a three year old car/van/truck. If you buy a 2010 and hold it for three years, you are selling a 4-year-old unit. Common sense tells you the newer vehicle is worth more. Usually, end of model year discounts are not more than a year’s depreciation (after 3-4 years). For informational purposes, getting a 2010 with end of year discounts and holding that unit for over 5-6 years can possibly make economic sense.

Whether you have 1 or 500 units, making sure your company obtains vehicle(s) having the best resale value coupled with available maximum incentives added to the best remarketing options will help your company keep its fleet operating costs down.

Sales figures show annual new car and light-duty truck sales are on pace to hit 11 million vehicles. In contrast, Americans historically bought approximately 17 million new cars/light trucks annually. Therefore, it is true; companies are buying less new vehicles. With that in mind, used car sales can be double or triple that of new car number and light truck sales. Thus, managing the sale of a company’s used vehicles can be very significant and meaningful to a company’s balance sheet.

You can utilize Madison Capital’s extensive 35 years of Commercial Vehicle Leasing experience for all of the following