Two Year Lease Deals From BMW - Why?!

[steveg]

With the incentives in California all targeting three years (or perhaps 30 months for the $2500 rebate), why does BMW incentivize their dealers with two year leases.

With the exception of the 7 Series, every lease on the bmwusa site is 36 months.

Does anyone know why they chose 24 months for the i3 when a good deal of their sales will be in California?

 

[Leasi3]

Just take 6% off of the residual and recompute. They'll do a 3 year lease, they just choose to market the 2.

 

[jadnashuanh]

It might be that with the car being new, and a kind of a unique item, some people don't want to be tied into a longer commitment. It is likely that by the end of the 2-years, better batteries will be available, and people may want the newer tech.

Personally, the range on what I have is fine for my needs, and I bought mine, expecting to keep it for a long time, so depreciation becomes somewhat of a minor issue.

 

[PDXelectric]

It might be that with the car being new, and a kind of a unique item, some people don't want to be tied into a longer commitment. It is likely that by the end of the 2-years, better batteries will be available, and people may want the newer tech.

Personally, the range on what I have is fine for my needs, and I bought mine, expecting to keep it for a long time, so depreciation becomes somewhat of a minor issue.

My lease monthly payment would actually go up if I chose a term past 24 months. This is very unusual and I think a product of the steep discount of MSRP and the residual difference between the two terms. One thing worth considering is that leasing companies often allow you to continue "month to month" after your lease is up. I am not sure if BMW allows this?

 

[imolazhp]

I really think its to try to keep the residuals high at lease-end. If they get back all of their cars before the Bold and Model III come out then they can hopefully resell them quickly and not loose too much money. If they lease for 3 years then there is a chance that either or both of those cars hitting the market will make the i3's residual plummet, costing them a bunch of money.