SAN DIEGO and CHELSEA, Mass. -

Experian reported that 46.29% of all new vehicles financed during the first quarter were attached to a lease.

And a new partnership could help to raise that level in future quarters.

Credit Union Leasing of America (CULA) further expanded its vehicle leasing footprint through its partnership with Metro Credit Union, which launched vehicle leasing in New Hampshire this month. 

According to a news release, Metro Credit Union first started working with CULA at the height of the pandemic last year to implement a leasing program for credit union customers in its home base of Massachusetts. 

With exponential growth in leases, month-over-month, Metro Credit Union has become one of CULA’s top performing credit union partners.

Metro Credit Union was formed in Massachusetts in 1926. Since then, Metro has grown into one of the largest state-chartered credit union in Massachusetts with almost $2.5 billion in assets and more than 200,000 members.

CULA has helped to generate indirect vehicle leasing for credit unions for more than 30 years and provides vehicle leasing programs for credit unions to help them grow membership, diversify lending options, and increase yield.

“Leasing is quickly emerging as an important option for car buyers who are entering a vehicle sales market with constrained inventory and record high prices, and we wanted to be in the forefront of offering the affordable and flexible vehicle finance options that leasing provides,” Metro Credit Union chief executive officer Robert Cashman said in the news release.

“Although starting a completely new finance program in the midst of a pandemic, and one as complex as vehicle leasing, is a tall mountain to climb, CULA sped us up the slope,” Cashman continued. 

“With CULA handling everything from analytics to insurance to operations to compliance, we were able to launch quickly — and it was an immediate positive for our Massachusetts members, a benefit we are excited to now extend to our New Hampshire members,” he went on to say.

CULA vice president of business development Mark Chandler alluded to the Experian data when elaborating about what the partnership could mean for Metro Credit Union.

“We are so pleased to launch Metro Credit Union’s vehicle leasing program in New Hampshire, a state in which over 40% of all vehicles are leased. We’re not aware of any other credit unions currently offering leasing to their members in the state so it’s rewarding to be able to offer this service here,” Chandler said.

“With their laser focus on improving the banking experience, and deep commitment to the communities they operate in, the opportunity for Metro Credit Union, and for its New Hampshire members, is significant,” he added.

After a record-breaking fourth quarter, CULA started 2021 with its best first quarter ever. While first quarters are typically not good times for auto sales, in Q1 2021, CULA said it recorded nearly $400 million in lease originations for the quarter.

The company went on to highlight this trend is continuing in Q2, with more than $200 million in lease originations from more than 5,300 leases in May alone.

And those trends could continue with this great footprint in the Northeast that ripe for more leasing.

“The most successful credit unions CULA works with are very motivated and want to get up and running quickly and Metro Credit Union is an example of that.  From the start, the Metro team was very engaged and enthusiastic, from top leadership on down,” CULA president Ken Sopp said.

“This, combined with their understanding of the value of leasing, meant we could ramp up quickly, so they were able to begin doing significant volume and rapidly see gains from leasing," he went on to say.