Porsche 911 buyers flock to rare 24-month leases

Porsche is pushing 24-month leases for its 911 and is running a six-month lease pull-ahead incentive on all of its sports cars to offset a shortage of low-mileage used cars.

This year, 22 percent of all 911 lessees have taken 24-month contracts rather than 36-month deals, says Michael Bartsch, COO of Porsche Cars North America. That compares with 10 percent before the push.

Twenty-four month leases are rare. J.D. Power and Associates analyst Thomas King says they accounted for only 5 percent of industrywide leases in February.

Porsche is trying to combat a lack of low-mileage cars coming off lease after its U.S. sales fell from 34,693 in 2007 to 25,320 last year.

For the 24-month lease, Porsche cut the 911's monthly payment by about 10 percent to $1,263. That makes it competitive with the $1,118 payment on a 36-month lease. Bartsch says Porsche can lower the payments because of improved residual values and lower interest rates.

"With used-car demand going up and interest in the new 911 GTS and the GT3 models going up, the environment has been right to get people out of 36-month leases early and into shorter leases for comparable costs," Bartsch says.

He says Porsche is focusing on the 911 because owners are more likely to trade up for the newer 911 derivatives than owners of the Cayenne SUV or the lower-priced Boxster or Cayman.

The 911 Carrera coupe starts at $78,750, while the range-topping 911 GT2 RS is priced at $245,950. The prices include shipping.

Porsche sold 841 911s in the first two months of 2011, one fewer than in the same period of 2010. Overall sales were up 33 percent for the first two months this year to 4,419.

By Diana T. Kurylko- Automotive News