On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 18:57:09 -0000, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 17:15:24 -0000, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:


"John Wright" wrote in message
...

I saw a Prius in police colours in
London the other day. A quick Google
and....

"TOYOTA PRIUS HELPS SAFER NEIGHBOURHOODS
Thanks to a partnership deal between
The Metropolitan Police Service,
National Car Rental and Toyota, the
94 Safer Neighbourhoods teams across
London have been given the use of Toyota
Prius Hybrid cars."

The Flying Squad will naturally want them too.

Are you really so gullible as to be sucked in by this one?

Do you mean those police cars were not the Prius?


Don't be silly...



It's a marketing game.

1) Manufacturer gets press release.

2) Lease is short (typically 6 months) and at the end of it the car
goes onto the secondhand market to boost the market share there.

It's a standard game used for minority interest manufacturers and
models.

Some years ago before personal car leasing was as widely available as
it is now, I found deals through several of the car rental companies
where you could get quite good monthly pricing on relatively obscure
cars in this way. I had a succession of Saabs and the like this
way. Each was on a maximum of 5 months lease and mileage allowance
was limited. The lease pricing was partly supported by the
manufacturer's marketing budget and the purpose was entirely to boost
market share.

Toyota must be pretty desperate if they are having to resort to deals
like this.

You made all that up.

Would you like to see copies of the lease agreements? I'll happily
email or post them to you.

http://www.accountancyage.com/financ...cisions-leases

From Avis Maxirent Ts & Cs

"Please note that we are then unable to change the car unless it is
due to mechanical problems or the manufacturer mileage restriction has
been reached. "

i.e. manufacturer sets mileage limit. Of course he does to maintain
resale value.

National Car Rental also have an identical offering called 3to6auto.

These leasing deals also have the advantage for the manufacturer of
being able to terminate the lease or swap out for another car without
embarrassment if something bad happens and the product doesn't work
out.





--

..andy