In these days of supply chain issues and unprecedented low inventories, lease purchases financed by Honda Financial Services (HFS) are on the rise. In a traditional environment, about 13% of HFS lease customers purchase their end-of-term vehicles. Today, 30% of HFS lease customers are choosing to purchase their vehicles.
For dealers, these numbers present an opportunity: You can optimize those lease purchases by offering customers certification of their vehicles through the Lease to Retail Rollover program.
“This program enables a customer to have their vehicle certified when they buy out their lease, which gives them an extended warranty and the ability to buy the vehicle with one of the incentive programs that wouldn’t otherwise be available on a lease buyout,” says Jon Eldridge, assistant vice president, Sales and Marketing, American Honda Finance Corporation (AHFC).
To create the Lease to Retail Rollover program, HFS partnered with American Honda Motor Co., Inc., to offer end-of-term customers the opportunity to certify their vehicles when they purchase them. This certification provides the customer with an additional warranty that all certified vehicles have, and it allows the dealer to then use certified specials as well as designated Lease to Retail Rollover specials.
That’s exactly why HFS created the program: to provide dealers more opportunities to structure attractive deals for customers who want to purchase at the end of a lease. “When customers inform us that it’s their desire to purchase their lease vehicles, we encourage them to visit their local Honda dealers to set up financing via the Lease to Retail Rollover program,” says Paul Hardwick, manager, Lease Maturity Center, AHFC. “It’s a win-win for customers and dealers,” Hardwick adds.
“Lease to Retail Rollover gives peace of mind to both customers and dealers because the vehicles have been through the certification process,” Eldridge says.