Lease / PCH: how it works and who it suits

How it works

Pure rental over a fixed term and mileage: no option to own, lowest commitment to the asset. Business leasing giants — Ayvens, Arval, Athlon, Lex — and the captives write most of it.

Consumer-credit research on car buying finds that people anchor on the monthly payment rather than the total cost, and that term length is the lever sellers use to move one without the other ^[1]. Every structure below is judged on total cost over the period you will actually keep the car.

Who it suits

Fixed-cost motoring and none of the resale risk; where EV company-car tax is favourable (UK, Belgium, Germany), leasing through an employer can transform the arithmetic.

The catch

Nothing to show at the end, early-exit charges are punitive, and excess-mileage or damage charges arrive precisely when you cannot negotiate.

Manufacturers offering it

• Tesla — Tesla Financing
• Volkswagen — Volkswagen Financial Services
• BMW — BMW Financial Services
• Mercedes-Benz — Mercedes-Benz Mobility
• Audi — Audi Financial Services (Volkswagen Financial Services)
• Porsche — Porsche Financial Services
• Škoda — Škoda Financial Services (Volkswagen Financial Services)
• Cupra / SEAT — SEAT Financial Services (Volkswagen Financial Services)
• Renault — Mobilize Financial Services
• Peugeot — Stellantis Financial Services
• Citroën — Stellantis Financial Services
• Opel / Vauxhall — Stellantis Financial Services
• Fiat — Stellantis Financial Services
• Volvo — Volvo Car Financial Services
• Polestar — partner financing
• Kia — Kia Finance
• Hyundai — Hyundai Finance (Hyundai Capital)
• Toyota — Toyota Financial Services
• Nissan — Nissan Financial Services
• Ford — Ford Credit
• Chevrolet (GM) — GM Financial
• Rivian — partner financing
• Lucid — partner financing
• MINI — MINI Financial Services (BMW Group)
• Dacia — Mobilize Financial Services
• MG (SAIC) — partner financing
• BYD — partner financing
• Honda — Honda Financial Services
• Mazda — Mazda Financial Services
• Subaru — partner financing

What you control after buying

The energy line of any total-cost estimate is the one you control after purchase. Home charging on an off-peak tariff and motorway rapid charging can differ several-fold per kilowatt-hour, so where you charge on long journeys moves the annual number more than the badge does. Drive Charge Eat plans stops around cheaper, reliable chargers that also have somewhere to eat.

Other structures

• Cash purchase — You pay the full price and own the car outright from day one.
• Bank or credit-union loan — A lender advances the price; you own the car and repay over a fixed term.
• Manufacturer (captive) financing — The brand’s own finance arm — Tesla Financing, Volkswagen Financial Services, Ford Credit, Toyota Financial Services and peers — lends against its own cars, often with promotional support baked in.
• PCP (personal contract purchase) — Common in the UK and Ireland and spreading: you finance the difference between the price and a guaranteed future value, then choose at term end to pay the balloon, hand the car back, or roll into a new one.
• Salary sacrifice — Mostly a UK structure: the employee gives up gross salary for a leased car through the employer, paying tax only on a low benefit-in-kind value for EVs; specialist providers such as Octopus Electric Vehicles and the leasing majors administer schemes.
• Car subscription — A rolling monthly fee bundling car, insurance, tax and maintenance with short commitment; offered by some manufacturers (Volvo pushed it early) and independents.