長期以來，「租賃」一詞在汽車購買圈中是個禁忌。然而，在本世紀初它開始受到青睞，並在疫情爆發前達到約三成的最高點。
自那之後，租賃新車、卡車和跨界休旅車的比例一直在穩步下降。事實上，根據路透社引用 J.D. Power & Associates 的數據報導，在 2026 年上半年，租賃佔新車購買的比例為 23%。
自那之後，這個數字明顯有所反彈，但較低的頭期款和較低的月付金的吸引力，已被汽車製造商缺乏吸引人的付款方案或頭期款所抵銷。許多尋求新車的買家抱怨缺乏負擔能力，他們的意思是「哪裡有好的租賃優惠？」
所以，各位讀者，我們想問：您偏好租賃還是貸款來「購買」新車，為什麼？
Leasing allows the consumer to get into a vehicle he cannot otherwise afford. Like, leasing your living quarters when you can't afford to purchase.
There are always exceptions and reasons and rationalizations, but basically that's the main reason for consumer leasing. You can't afford that big old truck, but you want it, so you pay more and rent it short term.
The big exception is leasing for business usage. Then you can better justify it.
And, no, a car bought by a consumer is not a depreciating asset. Because the consumer does not depreciate it, nor is it an asset used to generate income (unless, see above re business usage). And it's certainly not an investment. A car bought by a consumer is just an expense.
Expenses are not bad. Food and shelter and insurance and education are expenses, also. Interestingly, in the US a human can't write off expenses from income taxes like businesses can. To a human, then, food is a luxury. Does the standard deduction REALLY cover all expenses?
Leasing allows the consumer to get into a vehicle he cannot otherwise afford.
What you mean to say is, leasing fakes the money so that people will overspend on things they can't afford without realizing the trouble they're getting themselves into.
And, no, a car bought by a consumer is not a depreciating asset.
Oh my yes it is. The assets costs $10,000 to acquire, and immediately you can't sell it for any more than $8000--and its value goes down every day. It's depreciating while you sleep.
Don't confuse "it depreciates" with "you have to fill out this tax form and use its language in ways that were never intended".
" And, no, a car bought by a consumer is not a depreciating asset."
The finance manager down at my local dealership said the same thing.
In all seriousness, I get what you are saying but you are sort of splitting hairs over technical definitions. You know good and well what people mean by saying that
My vehicles are always longterm keepers, so I go with loans. I was fortunate in my last purchase in as I was able to pay cash. I keep my cars a minimum of 12 years and 250k miles. I may pick up a used EV in a couple of years as my daily driver and preserve my current hybrid as my road trip vehicle.