The automotive world has been jolted in recent months by the pullouts of certain lenders from the leasing business. Wells Fargo has exited leasing altogether, while 5th 3rd Bank and US Bank have exited the pre-owned business. Ford and GMAC announced they will take a much more conservative approach to leasing. On the heels of these announcements, and with the entire industry taking major hits to the wholesale/residual values of vehicles that used to be the “cash cows” of the manufacturers, the announcement of Chrysler leaving the leasing business came as no surprise. After all, Chrysler/Cerberus bought 49% of GMAC’s portfolio of mortgages AND leases, as well as Chrysler credit’s entire finance portfolio. What do these recent events really say? In this writer’s opinion, it says the domestic manufacturers, Chrysler in particular, are running out of cash fast. Are they really telling us that it is better for them and their customers to put their buyers into o...