CINCINNATI -

Overseas markets are proving to be fertile grounds for lease transfers from the U.S., particularly in a few Western European nations, according to data released Tuesday by online lease marketplace Swapalease.com.

The site believes it’s becoming more common to see takeovers of U.S. leases occur solely for shipping the cars overseas once the term ends.

Swapalease suggests this trend is especially evident “as fewer lessees and dealers plan to keep the leases because of the changing equity position.”

According to the site, Spain tops the list of foreign markets receiving shipments of U.S. lease transfers, and is followed by France and Italy, respectively. Sweden is fourth, and China is fifth.

Swapalease explains that several European markets are seeing rising pent-up demand, which has led to local sales there climbing. At the same time, there are automakers who are exporting more of their cars from the U.S. —
Swapalease mentions Ford and Honda as examples.  Citing data from Bloomberg, the site indicated that Ford has seen export activity climb 50 percent in the last five years.

“As evidenced by the growing U.S.-produced inventory being shipped elsewhere, the North American auto industry is positioning itself to participate in the broader global competitive landscape,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president at Swapalease. “Increasing demand across the oceans and more domestic supply could mean this activity continues to expand in the near term.”

In particular, the entry-level luxury car could be a hot spot. Transfers have climbed in this segment, Swapalease said. And some of the more popular brands overseas are BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Land Rover (to go along with such popular mainstream domestic brands as Ford and Chevrolet).

The site also said another popular overseas shipment on its site are fuel-friendly compact crossovers like the Toyota RAV4.