Lease approvals bounce back in February

Swapalease.com reported on Wednesday that lease credit approvals are beginning to bounce back after a dip in the numbers late last year.

Site officials highlighted vehicle lease credit approvals for the month of February finished at 70 percent, an uptick from the January mark of 63.6 percent.

As a whole, Swapalease described the automotive industry as continuing to thrive as it did last year. Site executive vice president Scot Hall explained that increasing numbers in lease credit approvals may aid in ensuring that this year follows closely in the footsteps of last year, yielding record sales numbers overall and adding to the high lease penetration rate of nearly 32 percent.

“Lease credit approvals are slowly starting to rise again after a mediocre couple of months,” Hall said.

“Rising credit approvals means that this year might be another record year for the auto industry as well as its focus on aggressive lease deals,” he added.

Although lease credit approvals are increasing, Swapalease noted the industry remains watchful of consumer confidence levels.

The site mentioned consumer confidence is down 14 percent from a year ago, making this the lowest level that analysts have seen in the past seven months.

“Despite the recent growth in lease credit approvals, the decline in consumer spending could be a factor that stands in the way of overall auto sales growth potential for 2016,” Swapalease said.