Fiat Pushing $199 Lease For 500e
California consumers interested in a Fiat 500e will be getting a sweetheart deal from Fiat; a $199 lease for 36 months with a $999 down payment.
At retail, the car will cost $32,500 plus a $7,500 tax credit. But as the Los Angeles Times reports, customers who lease won’t be able to collect the tax credit.
Those leasing the car can also get a special $2,500 rebate that California offers for electric cars, which will cover the down payment and about six lease payments.
Fiat’s move is an agressive one. Nissan recently cut the base price of the Leaf to$28,800, or $6,400 less than it was in 2012. Nissan also offers 36-month lease deal of $199 a month and a $1,999 down payment. But the Leaf is sold nationwide, unlike the 500e, which is limited to California only. The reason for this is economic. Fiat stands to lose money on every single 500e, and is only selling the car to comply with California emissions standards. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has gone on record with his displeasure over the 500e’s money-losing nature, telling Automotive News
“I will try to sell the required numbers for me to optimize compliance with the emission standards and not one more.”
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I'm going to do some math here for cost comparison, using the best data I can scrounge up on short notice, as the Scion iQ has a special lease going as well... bear with me: Fiat 500e 36 month lease cost: $8163 Scion iQ 36 month lease cost: $5533 Fiat 500e uses 29 kwh per 100 miles, or $4.35 Scion iQ uses 2.7 gallons per 100 miles, or $10.80 Assuming these are both 12,000 mile per year leases: The Fiat 500e will cost $1566 in electricity The Scion iQ will cost $3888 in gas Lease and fuel combined costs: Fiat 500e: $9729 Scion iQ: $9421 Drawbacks of leasing the Fiat 500e: range anxiety, cost Drawbacks of leasing the Scion: more maintenance costs, being seen in public driving a Scion iQ Even with the range issues, I'd still have to go with the Fiat.
I'm not sure the LA Times is correct that you don't get the $7500 tax credit when you lease - I have been looking into getting a Leaf in the last week or so (this close to pulling the trigger now...) and everything I have read suggests that you do get the credit as long as you lease for 36 months or more. Perhaps they have been caught up in the technicality of it, because when you lease it will not be you yourself who gets the credit, but the leasing company who is technically purchasing the car - you still have the value knocked off the price though. I can't see why the 500 would be any different to the Leaf in this respect.
Always hard to know what Marchionne is up to with comments like these. Remember his disparaging remarks about the sweetheart govt. loans he got. Maybe he's dumb like a fox, what with a lot of free publicity. Ford is smart - they don't comment on the 5 Billion they got from the DOE - and they look like heroes (and the CEO can get paid $21,000,000 without commenters noticing). Marchionne should learn from that. Sharp dresser though - we could all learn from that.
A Fiat product, which has never been a company known for robust electrical systems which redesigned by Chrysler who usually scores low in quality rankings, in Detroit to fit Americans, an built in Mexico and powered by an electric drivetrain. What could possibly go wrong?