[TusharK]

Toyota has launched its new car leasing and subscription program called Toyota Mobility Services in India. The carmaker has partnered with 'Kinto' under Toyota Financial Services, ALD Automotive India and SMAS Auto Leasing India Pvt. Ltd.



Customers will be able to pick the Glanza, Yaris, Innova Crysta, Fortuner or the upcoming Urban Cruiser for a tenure of 3-5 years on a fixed monthly fee. The monthly fee will include vehicle maintenance, insurance and roadside assistance. Toyota is also offering a short-term subscription option of 24-48 months.

Initially, leasing options will be offered to customers in Delhi-NCR, Bangalore and Mumbai, while 10 more cities will be added to the list within the first year.

Link to Team-BHP News

[CEF_Beasts]

Has the subscription monthly fees for each car been announced yet? Looks lucrative for the Innova and Fortuner considering their high sticker prices!

[thecarguy]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

Has the subscription monthly fees for each car been announced yet? Looks lucrative for the Innova and Fortuner considering their high sticker prices!

Despite the strong resale value of the Innova and the Fortuner, the monthly subscription rates are gonna be really high. You'll probably be paying off the total cost of the car in a 3-year lease and still not have any ownership.

So for a 40 lakh Fortuner, with a 4 lakh downpayment, they will still charge around 1lakh per month for 3 years. Service and insurance might be their headache but you will have an annual mileage limit too.

[fine69]

For people who keep their cars for long and usually buy it cash down, leasing would never be lucrative with the kind of monthly outgo it'd call for.

With a Toyota resale isn't an issue as such and their lineup isn't the most diverse, within a segment one hardly has a choice so I'm still not sure who the target audience is.

[WhiteSierra]

Originally Posted by fine69

For people who keep their cars for long and usually buy it cash down, leasing would never be lucrative with the kind of monthly outgo it'd call for.

With a Toyota resale isn't an issue as such and their lineup isn't the most diverse, within a segment one hardly has a choice so I'm still not sure who the target audience is.

Target audience would be Directors, senior and higher level employees like VPs, CEOs of MNCs, start up companies it IT firms. When I used to work in Gurgoan, my company leased S-Cross and Innova Crysta for international directors and CEO. They used to use those vehicles for all their travel in India instead of cabs. Of course, they were chauffeur driven, but if you have to relocate to some other city for an year or two, leasing would be a better option rather than going through all hassles like buying a car on loan, transferring registration to home town later or selling it locally where the dealers would rip off good margin from you. It ain't worth all that pain.

[arvindmanju]

Toyota to offer cars in India on lease, subscription maybe stating at 21000₹ pm
I personally think it’s on a higher side, but will have to see how market accepts it.

Source Reuters

The Japanese automaker said on Tuesday it would offer leasing plans to corporate and retail customers of three to five years across its portfolio of cars - including the Glanza hatchback, Yaris sedan and Fortuner sport-utility vehicle - for as little as 21,000 rupees (281$) a month.

Naveen Soni, senior vice president, sales and service at the carmaker’s India unit, said the need for safe transport was growing and leasing or subscription models offered a more cost-effective solution than buying a car.

So far, leasing and subscription services in India have largely focussed on the higher end of the auto market and therefore make up a fraction of the overall numbers, said Soni.

Toyota’s India unit has formed a separate team to drive the business and it will partner with its Japanese parent’s global mobility services brand, KINTO, as well as ALD Automotive and SMAS Auto Leasing.

[GTO]

Automakers want to sound all cool with announcing new buzzwords like "mobility", but this is an overpriced lease in new clothes.

What did catch my eye is this from their website FAQ:

All our vehicles under the Subscription program will bear a white number plate.

How is this? I thought all subscriptions are black & yellow taxi plates? Does this also mean there is no 80 kmph speed limiter?

[drmohitg]

The leasing market in India is waiting for its "Kia" moment. Before the launch of Seltos, all of us kept arguing and discussing the need of a fully loaded AT variant in cars but every carmaker kept turning a blind eye citing reasons like cost and what not. This all changed with the Seltos launching in a fully loaded trim. And rest is history specially when for the first time and almost like a slap on other car makers, customers urged Kia to launch a more expensive fully loaded AT option in the line up.

The leasing market in India looks similar to me. Gone are the days when every car buyer in India wanted the car to be a part of the family for generations. Now a days with so many options in the market and newer ones coming in every other month with more features, engine and transmission options etc, there exists a sizeable chunk of buyers who want to update their cars frequently. And potential for a good leasing deal is HUGE and practically un-explored territory. Also in regions like Delhi NCR, where the NGT rule is enforced buying expensive cars doesn't make sense anymore and leasing may be a much better option. But then the car makers need to get sensible and offer leasing deals with the intention to actually lease and not just for the sake of advertisement. Leasing is the preferred option in western countries and I see no reason for it to not enjoy the same level of patronage here.

[jkrishnakj]

Originally Posted by GTO

How is this? I thought all subscriptions are black & yellow taxi plates? Does this also mean there is no 80 kmph speed limiter?

To me, this sounds very similar to the Car leasing plans that corporates have. My Baleno having a white board , is on lease through the organisation I work for, on a tenure of 3 years. I may be wrong, but I think this plan from Toyota may potentially be more like an alternate financing option.

[anks_at]

Originally Posted by GTO

How is this? I thought all subscriptions are black & yellow taxi plates? Does this also mean there is no 80 kmph speed limiter?

I had a leased car from Orix, with the usual White/black number plates. The owner on the RC was my employer, which in this case, may be Toyota or a dealer??

[neelkumar]

Originally Posted by GTO

How is this? I thought all subscriptions are black & yellow taxi plates? Does this also mean there is no 80 kmph speed limiter?

I was intrigued by the same point. And in another FAQ, I notice this:

The vehicle will be registered in the name of customer & hypothecated to the Leasing/Subscription partner.

In the usual car subscriptions, the car will be registered on the company's name itself but the subscriber will get Authorization and a lease agreement to be able to drive it (and hence the black number plate). This one on the other hand, looks similar to corporate car leases offered by various companies to their employees for tax savings purposes. These are registered on the subscriber's name itself and so, will have a white number plate.

As 80 kmph limit is specific to black number plates, I guess this shouldn't have it. And, much of the restrictions removed arising from the black number plate, but this would still have a KM usage limit.

Anyway, the sucess of this depends on how well they price the subscriptions. And particularly for folks like me, how they are planning to partner with companies for corporate leasing and how much I can save the IT.

[haisaikat]

Companies are worried about increasing their revenue and margin, and to make up for the downward sales figures they are going to invent newer ways to attract cash inflow. But frankly if it is merely starting from 21,000 INR monthly not sure for which model but for Innova it is lower than even the 7 year EMI assuming full financing.

But this makes sense owing to some of our own laws like every state charges their own Road Tax and its a large amount in cities where there is a steady job market. Better to lease another vehicle there if people have to be on the move. May be the future needs us to be more mobile to house and car on lease would make more sense and owing a house would be a story post retirement only

[anilp]

Originally Posted by GTO

How is this? I thought all subscriptions are black & yellow taxi plates? Does this also mean there is no 80 kmph speed limiter?

This will be similar to an organization lease via an Avis or similar. It will be registered to your name or your company's name, so the number plate will be normal. No speed limiters.

Speed limiters and black and yellow plates are the preserve of self drive options like Zoom. Leasing guys don't do that.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by anks_at

I had a leased car from Orix, with the usual White/black number plates.

Originally Posted by GTO

How is this? I thought all subscriptions are black & yellow taxi plates? Does this also mean there is no 80 kmph speed limiter?

Originally Posted by anilp

..yellow plates are the preserve of self drive options like Zoom. Leasing guys don't do that.

Yellow vs White is apparently the demarcation between Rental vs Lease. As you know, though both are effectively the same, in legalese rental means granting someone the right to use something for "short term" and leasing means exactly that for "long or medium term". So you can rent a flat or Zoom car for a short period of time; monthly or weekly basis for example. On the other hand you can lease land or buildings for years or even decades.

Aircraft, ships and Volvo buses and now it seems that you can lease Fortuners too.

My 2c.

[peus017]

Old wine in Old bottle.

I am guessing lease/subscriptions channel sales would be less than 5% for every automaker.

Nevertheless an marketing attempt to create buzz.