Thank you to our personal leasing customer for visiting the CarLease team once again to collect their brand-new vehicle the Range Rover Evoque (and drop of their existing vehicle).
A long-standing customer of the business, they are now on their 3rd “cycle” of vehicle, mean this was the 3rd time they have been through the new car lease process. Each time they have been upgrading their vehicle and making slight adjustments, beginning with a Renault Clio and Vauxhall Mokka and now concluding with a Mercedes A Class and Range Rover Evoque, the latter being the car they collected from the team.
It has only been in the mid to latter parts of 2019 that the Evoque, Range Rover’s smaller SUV/crossover, has become popular.
The SUV leasing market is now saturated with great options with the Audi Q2/Q3, Mercedes GLA, BMW X1/X2 and Jaguar E-Pace. While deals and customer choice are never better, the result has been a drop in demand for Range Rover, something which hasn’t gone unnoticed in the press.
With their product being heavily reliant on customers wanted to spend a premium for diesel vehicle, the brand has perhaps lagged behind some of the more flexible competitors.
With a move to alternative fuels – plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and pure electric vehicles (EVs) – the Range Rover and Land Rover brands have been slow to react.
However, with recent announcement of investment into electric platforms to be built in the UK, maybe 2020 and 2021 will see new and more dynamic product being released?
By why would a customer keep leasing? Surely this is dead money?
Leasing vs Buying has been a hotly contested debate over the years and while more and more customers are leaning towards contract hire (use and return product) there are still some customers who are resistant to this financial product.
Contract hire is a usership-style product which means that at the end of the contract the vehicle is returned; this is not suitable if you wish to buy the vehicle.
However, why do you want a buy a vehicle? Are you planning to keep it longer than 3 or 4 years? This is where customers have to truly consider their behaviours. For those who swap cars every 2 – 4 years via a hire purchase, cash purchase or PCP, they need to try to calculate the actual cost of this arrangement.
Sometimes, the true “loss” arising out of each transaction is not considered. With contract hire you have a true representation and understanding of what the vehicle is costing you; the contract involves paying a fixed amount of money over 2 – 4 years on either a driver-maintained basis (you service and maintain) or on a funder-maintained basis (all of the servicing or maintained is included). You are fixing the risk and making this a known quantity.
The reality is that some customers think contract hire is expensive when in fact it is just a case of being more honest. Some customers would rather not know what the car is costing them i.e. swap it with a dealer and keep the payment the same sort of idea.
It is not that contract hire is expensive, is just a case of making the facts known to the customer.
The idea of leasing is for us to deal with customers in an open and transparent way so that customers are provided with enough information in order to make an informed decision and one which meets their needs and requirements. Fundamentally, using or buying any car will cost money and as they not an appreciating asset, this will never make you money. A customer who enters into a transaction with a view of making money or building equity in the vehicle is likely to be disappointed.
You also have to factor in other costs – services, general maintenance, tyres and MOTs. When you are comparing the whole of life costs for a vehicle these are crucial for making the right decision.
With leasing, we offer brand-new vehicles only which are under warranty and are available with all servicing included (funder-maintained). Therefore you can achieve what we term “cost certainty”. You essentially fix your risk. In an era of tumultuous markets and Brexit, vehicle ownership is becoming more and more risky – why do you really want to take the risk? Unless the vehicle is being kept for a long period of time or you are an expert buyer/seller of cars, the end result is that contract hire is far better and certain.
In terms of the car shown here, the Land Rover RANGE ROVER EVOQUE DIESEL HATCHBACK 2.0 D150 R-Dynamic 5door 2WD (Manual), this is based on the following configuration:
Narvik Black Solid Paint
Fabric – Ebony
Gradated linear dark aluminium trim finisher
17″ 5 split spoke satin dark grey alloy wheels – Style 5073
Ebony morzine headlining
Large fuel tank
As standard the car includes carpet mats, sound system with 180W and 6 speakers, ambient interior lighting, 17” alloys, 360 degree parking aid, power socket pack, LED headlights, leather steering wheel, rear view camera, 8-way manual seats, heated front seats, front and rear parking aid, heated washer jets, heated windscreen, rain sensing windscreen wipers, DSC, park assist, hill launch assist, roll stability control, Bluetooth connectivity, InControl remote, Hill launch assist, passive suspension, 10” touch screen, voice control system, lane keep assist, push button starter, DAB, steering wheel mounted controls, tailgate spier, climate control, bright metal pedals, emergency braking, 40/20 split folding seats, immobiliser, intrusion sensor and alarm. In terms of additional options consider privacy glass, secure tracker and power-folding mirrors.
Alternatively upgrade to the “S” model for some more specification.
On the technical-side, company car and business users can note the P11d at £33,200.00 and CO2 at 143g/km. The 1999CC 6 speed manual diesel engine delivers 52.3 combined MPG (EC), 42.1 (WLTP), 150ps and 0-62 times of 10.5 seconds. Service intervals on a diesel Evoque are every 24 months or 21,000 miles.
So would this be your select leasing option? Or would you be going to another manufacturer for an SUV?
