Toyota Financial Services recently leaped over GMAC Financial services to take the lead as the biggest U.S. auto lender in terms of loan and lease contract volume. The study by AutoCount (a unit of the Experian Automotive company) estimates that Toyota captured 6.35% of the market from January through June, while GMAC had 6.2% for a close second place. Rounding out the top five were Chase Auto Finance, American Honda Finance, and Ford Credit (in that order).

The Detroit 3 aren't the only automakers feeling the hurt from lease vehicles coming back worth much less than expected. Leases account for 60% of BMW's sales in the U.S. compared to just 20% of sales in the industry as a whole. As such, BMW will begin offering incentives like never before to encourage customers to buy a vehicle instead and reduce the number of leases it has on the books. In some cases the German brand is offering loans with finance rates as low as 0.9% over five years, and of course these incentives will be aided by a commensurate raise in lease prices, as well.

Chrysler LLC's financial division will no longer be offering leases to U.S. consumers on Chrysler products as of August 1st. The automaker will be holding a conference call with dealers later today to go over the changes and the reasons behind the decisions, but Chrysler spokesperson, Bill Porter, told Reuters "We are shifting our strategy to focus on retail products."

The move comes amidst Chrysler's attempt to get 20 banks to renew a $30 billion credit facility for the automaker's financial arm. The rise in borrowing costs next month will make it more difficult for Chrysler to offer low-interest loans and could spell further disasters on the sales front.

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