How leasing and car sharing “kill” credit and rent

Residents of more or less developed countries, including us, are experiencing a very funny moment in the history of the economy. The last turning point of this magnitude occurred at the moment when the era of mass consumer lending began. Then any working person or businessman gained the opportunity to get "here and now" for use anything - from a banal coffee maker to a car or his own house. On credit. That is, to acquire permanent property with gradual payment. Now people are increasingly switching to a new way of consumption - "temporary property" with periodic payments.

Car sharing is perhaps the most prominent example of a new type of ownership that is gaining popularity. But also the most "unsettled" in terms of legislation. A more familiar mechanism of the sharing economy is leasing. Something between carsharing and credit, but with a well-developed legislative framework. For this reason, car leasing, unlike carsharing, is suitable not only for individuals, but also for small businesses and individual entrepreneurs, not to mention large businesses.

The real economic processes are such that both ordinary citizens and entrepreneurs are now literally being squeezed out of the area of ​​loans into the sphere of vehicle leasing. Judge for yourself. For a small business, purchasing a car at full price right away is often an overwhelming task. A bank loan is also a big question, since credit organizations are extremely picky about small commercial borrowers, experts say.

If bankers give loans, then at a considerable percentage and subject to a serious down payment for the purchased car. Not every small business can pull such conditions. Especially if he still has not “departed” from the consequences of the “pandemic” turmoil in the economy. And the car is needed in order to somehow develop further - and not tomorrow, but today. Thus, the entrepreneur almost without alternative comes to the need to resort to the services of a leasing company.

The credit history of a potential client is not so important to her. For example, one of the schemes of the lessor's work implies that the client does not have to pay the full cost of the car. He, in fact, “buys” it for several years, transferring to the leasing company not the full cost of the vehicle (as with a loan), but only part of it, for example, half the price.

After 3-5 years (the term of the leasing agreement), the client simply returns the car to the lessor. And he changes to a new car and again pays half the price. It turns out that an entrepreneur can immediately start making money with a car, and you have to pay for it much less than a bank would have to pay for a loan. In the leasing scheme, a couple more useful "bonuses" for a businessman are hidden.

The fact is that in a number of regions small businesses can receive a number of preferences from the state. For example, in the form of subsidies for a down payment or reimbursement of part of the interest rate on lease payments - within the framework of federal and regional state support programs.

By the way, the additional equipment of the car can also turn out to be less expensive for the client - if you order it from the lessor. After all, the latter acquires it from the manufacturer on a large scale and therefore at reduced prices.

In addition, leasing is very beneficial for legal entities, since they have the right to apply for VAT compensation on it. The scale of savings reaches 20% of the total amount of the transaction. And in some cases, it turns out that leasing a car is cheaper than buying it in the salon for cash.

In addition to financial advantages, leasing, in comparison with a loan, has legal advantages. So, in the case of an individual entrepreneur, the buyer of the car does not need to pay a deposit or look for guarantors. After all, the car, according to the documents, remains the property of the lessor company. She, unlike the bank, sometimes requires a minimum of documents from the buyer: an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, copies of the founders' passports - and that's it!

In addition, creditor banks do not touch upon the operation of the credit machine. Because it's just not their profile. Their job is to give the borrower the money and make sure that he repays it on time. And the leasing company can help with insurance, and with the registration of the car with the traffic police, and with its technical maintenance, and with the sale of obsolete equipment, in the end.

But here the question inevitably arises: why, if leasing is so good, convenient and inexpensive, literally everyone around does not use it? The reason is simple: few people know about its advantages, but at the same time, many believe that owning a car is a priori more reliable.

However, both of these reasons are temporary: the transition from permanent to occasional car ownership is inevitable, and soon a car loan may well turn into exotic.