Are banks involved with Tesla leases now? I’ve leased a few Audis and I paid Audi financial. I leased a 2019 Model S and made my payments to Tesla financial.
I was under the impression that the dealership/manufacturer owns the leased vehicle and you are essentially just renting it long term. So banks are not involved, but maybe things have changed. I can tell you, Tesla leases are the worst when it comes to value based on their non-negotiable money factor and residual.
Audi financial is a Captive Financial institution, that provides leases and loans for Audi vehicles. Audi Financial (and every other captive finance arm, like BMW Financial, Ford Motor Credit, etc) are separate companies, within the umbrella of "Audi" or "BMW" or "Ford", so while "Audi" owns "Audi Financial" they are separate companies.
Banks (Like Wells Fargo, etc) also lease vehicles but usually not at rates competitive with Captive Financial companies. Those companies tend to subsidize the rates (money factor / interest rates) and also usually subsidize the residual (what the car is worth at the end of the lease.
The higher the residual value, the lower the monthly payments on a lease, the more desirable it is. Banks dont subsidize, they will set a realistic residual that allows them to make money on the car at the end, so it normally doesnt work financially to lease a vehicle from a bank, but many will offer it if someone wants to do it and pay through the nose for it.
Thats for regular vehicles, given the volatility of Tesla pricing, Banks may decide they wont do them at all. I dont know, but in both cases, whether they actually would do them or not, it wont make sense for this OPs friend to do it through his bank (All of this is US based, I dont know the ins and outs of leasing in other countries, except to notice it seems very popular in the UK and Ireland subforum).
