Chrysler Enters Leasing Field; New Ford Subsidy

Chrysler Corp. has announced that it will enter the car and truck leasing business through the for­mation of a new subsidiary, Chrys­ler Leasing Corp.

The program is effective with 1963 models.

"Leasing of car and truck fleets in the U. S. has more than doubled in the last five years," said Lynn A. Townsend, Chrysler president.

"This new leasing company is an­other step to make our 1963 cars and trucks available and economic­ally desirable to an important seg­ment of the American auto market. With this move, we are now in a position to serve the needs of fleet users whether they prefer to ac­quire their automotive equipment through purchase or lease."

The Chrysler Program

Will operate through a network of leasing dealers selected from the company's dealer body. Headquar­ters will be in Detroit and regional offices will be opened in large metropolitan areas "as soon as pos­sible," Townsend said.

The new organization will be directed by Robert D. Armstrong, former director of sales operating services for the Chrysler-Plymouth division. Named vice president of the leasing subsidiary was William J. Bird, who will continue to serve as director of fleet and government sales for Chrysler.

A Chrysler spokesman said the new leasing company will not compete with Chrysler dealers for leasing business, but rather is a way to help Chrysler dealers sell more ears to rental and leasing cus­tomers.

Chrysler is the second automak­er to enter the leasing business on a full-scale basis. The Ford divi­sion of Ford Motor Co. is in the field through its Ford Authorized Leasing System. As reported exclu­sively in the September issue of AUTOMOTIVE FLEET, Lincoln-Mercury soon plans to enter the field with a system similar to Ford's.  Chevrolet, which accounts for the biggest chunk of the rent­ing and leasing field, has no plans to set up a leasing organization, ac­cording to Semon E. (Bunky) Knudsen, Chevy general manager and a vice president of Ceneral Motors Corp.

In another move to attract rental and leasing business, it has been reported that Ford has aban­doned its guaranteed depreciation plan, instituted two years ago, and substituted a program wherel by certain accessory packages will be made available at reduced rates to rental and leasing fleets. The depreciation plan remains in effect on 1961 and 1962 cars.

The aim of the new program is to increase the value of the cars at time of trade in. Like the Ford depreciation plan, the new pro­gram applies only to the standard Galaxie line.

While Ford has declined to com­ment on its new program, it has been learned that the company will rebate; $123.60 to leasing firms if they buy Galaxie V-8s equipped with Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission, 352 cubic-inch en­gine, radio, seat belts and white wall tires; a §103 rebate will be given on eight cylinder Galaxies equipped with vinyl interior trim and seat belts; and an $80 rebate will be given on six cylinder cars with two-speed windshield wiper and washer, vinyl trim, seat belts and radio. There are other varia­tions to the Ford program. Auto­motive Fleet learned.

Meanwhile, Chrysler is continu­ing its "guaranteed value" program, a depreciation plan introduced last fall. The program will maintain the depreciation of each 1963 Chrysler car at a level no greater than that of a comparable make. Any model that is sold after six months of service in leasing is eli­gible for a subsidy if its deprecia­tion is greater than that for any comparable car as determined by auction reports.