ALG, as many of you are likely aware, stands for Automotive Lease Guide. Since 1981, the Automotive Lease Guide has been the leading provider of automotive leasing residual values in Canada.

This is important to everyone who has ever leased, or is thinking about leasing a new vehicle. It’s also important to anyone who has ever considered the purchase of a preowned vehicle which was originally leased when it left the dealership.

This is because in a traditional leasing arrangement, the residual value is the amount left over at the end which must be paid by the lessee, if he or she wishes to keep the vehicle. Contrary to the cash purchase price or financed vehicle cost (in a traditional finance arrangement), a high number benefits the lessee, because the higher the residual value, the lower the monthly payments will be. Why? Because essentially, the lessee is paying for the depreciation of the vehicle while they remain in the lease contract.

A vehicle with a higher residual value signifies one which doesn’t suffer an inordinate amount of depreciation, thereby allowing a higher resale value, because they have retained a higher percentage of the original MSRP. It also means that lower depreciation during the lease term equals lower payments for the lessee. There. I feel better. Now that we’ve got that straight … on to the news:

A few days ago, ALG announced the Canadian Residual Value Award winners. These awards honour and recognize brands and certain vehicles which best represent higher residual values in their respective segments. In a shocking (well, not really) display of dominance, Asian and German automakers took a very high percentage of the awards.

Now, when I say ‘high percentage’, I really mean nearly all of them. None of the domestic automakers even placed on the board. Oops. There were a couple of surprises, though - Land Rover walked away with two awards: one for Near-luxury utility vehicle (LR2), and one for Luxury utility vehicle (Range Rover Sport). This is reason for celebration by Land Rover, as it wasn’t too long ago that things were not looking too spectacular for them. Well done!

BMW had a nice showing with two awards as well (Luxury and Near-luxury car), and the rest were tied up by the Japanese (specifically, Subaru, Nissan / Infiniti, Honda, Toyota, and Mazda). Subaru did very well, taking home four awards, along with Nissan / Infiniti and Honda. Industry powerhouse Toyota was awarded two places on the list, followed by Mazda with one. Curiously absent from the list are Acura and Lexus.

Summary of 2010 Canadian Residual Value Awards below:

Mainstream Brand: Subaru
Luxury Brand: Infiniti
Entry Compact Car: Nissan Sentra
Mid-Compact Car: Subaru Impreza
Midsize Car: Subaru Legacy
Fullsize Car: Nissan Maxima
Compact Utility Vehicle: Honda CR-V
Midsize Utility Vehicle Mazda CX-7
Large Utility Vehicle: Toyota Sequoia
Minivan: Honda Odyssey
Compact/Midsize Pickup: Honda Ridgeline
Fullsize Pickup: Toyota Tundra
Sporty Car: Subaru Impreza WRX/STI
Near LuxuryCar: BMW 1 Series
Luxury Car: BMW 6 Series
Luxury Sports Car: Nissan GT-R
Near Luxury Utility Vehicle: Land Rover LR2
Luxury Utility Vehicle: Land Rover Range Rover Sport
Hybrid/Alternative Powertrain: Honda Insight

Thoughts?

[Source: CanadianDriver.com / ALG]

[Image: Flickr]