Companies in Switzerland face a choice when acquiring cars: lease or buy a company car? While purchasing ties up significant liquidity, classic leasing comes with fixed contract terms. The car subscription provides a transparent, need-based alternative for companies and sole traders.
Buying or Leasing a Company Car?
Buying a company car ties up valuable liquidity and places the full risk of depreciation on you. Traditional leasing preserves your capital but often binds you to rigid multi-year contracts with hidden administrative burdens.
Buying a Company Car: Capital Tie-Up and Depreciation Risk
Purchasing an entire fleet may seem independent at first glance. However, in reality, buying is often an inefficient drain on both money and time. This starts at the acquisition stage: a large one-off investment is required, immediately locking up your capital. That money is ultimately missing for your core business and important innovations.
But the real problems show up in day-to-day operations and resale:
Ongoing Effort & Rising Costs: While in use, you are responsible for everything, from insurance and taxes to tyres. This means high administrative effort, all managed by you. As the car ages, costs for service, maintenance, and unexpected repairs rise significantly.
Depreciation & Cumbersome Resale: The biggest financial risk awaits you at the end. A car loses value rapidly, and as the owner, you bear this massive depreciation alone. If you want to replace the car later, a cumbersome task awaits: listing fees, time-consuming price negotiations, and administrative work for the sale are all on you, only to hand over the car at a fraction of its purchase price.
Company Car Leasing: Why Rigid Contracts Hold Your Business Back
Leasing a company car primarily serves to preserve liquidity, as the acquisition costs are spread over monthly payments. However, such contracts are usually set for fixed terms of 36 to 48 months, which limits business flexibility.
Your business situation can change quickly, but your lease contract remains rigid. Early termination is usually only possible with very high fees. Adjusting the mileage during the contract is often difficult or extremely expensive. Driving more than planned leads to a hefty per-kilometre surcharge, causing the monthly lease payment to skyrocket.
Additionally, when leasing a company car, you are still responsible for insurance, service, tyre changes, and similar costs. These expenses are on top of the lease payment and can increase your monthly total costs up to three times the base lease rate.
Operational Leasing vs. Finance Leasing for Company Cars
When a company searches for a company car, it quickly becomes clear: “leasing” is not the same as “leasing.” To choose the right solution for your fleet, you must understand the structural differences between finance leasing and operational leasing. One resembles a hire-purchase, while the other is purely a usage agreement.
A Direct Comparison: Operational Leasing vs. Finance Leasing
Administrative Burden Despite Leasing Rate
As the table shows, neither finance leasing nor operational leasing solves the core problem of modern entrepreneurs: additional administrative work. In both models, you finance the car but remain responsible for operational management. You must handle workshop appointments, insurance policies, local registration, and seasonal tyre changes yourself. This effort consumes valuable work time that could be spent on productive tasks.
This is exactly where the car subscription comes in: it takes over all these administrative tasks. Instead of numerous individual invoices and appointments for insurance, taxes, or service, you only have a single monthly fixed price. This frees your mind for your core business while we take care of everything related to the car.
The Smartest Choice: Why the Car Subscription Beats Buying and Leasing
In summary, those who still buy or lease their fleet today consciously accept unnecessary administrative burdens and financial risks. The car subscription is the most modern form of corporate mobility and outperforms traditional models in every relevant aspect:
No down payment and full liquidity: The first major advantage. When buying a car, significant capital is immediately tied up, and even with leasing, a 10–20% down payment is often required. The car subscription can eliminate this down payment entirely. Your capital stays in the company and can be invested profitably instead of being locked in a high upfront payment.
Full tax deductibility with minimal effort: As with operational leasing, the subscription fee is fully tax-deductible. The key advantage for your everyday life: instead of hundreds of individual receipts for insurance, service, and taxes, you have only one invoice per month. This saves your accounting a lot of time and reduces administrative costs to a minimum.
Massive time savings in daily operations: Time is your most valuable resource. With buying or leasing, you handle everything yourself—from registration to workshop appointments. With a car subscription, we manage all organisational tasks around the car, so you can fully focus on your core business.
Budget certainty through all-inclusive: Unexpected repairs or rising premiums unpredictably burden your budget when buying or leasing. With a car subscription, you have a fixed monthly cost. Insurance, taxes, service, and tyres are already included, with no hidden cost traps. You only pay for fuel or charging.
No risk of depreciation and resale: A car loses value daily. When buying, you bear this risk alone and must later handle a tedious sale (ads, negotiations, time loss). With a car subscription, you simply return the car at the end of the term. We assume the depreciation risk. And if you want to keep your car at the end? Buyout is possible without hassle.
Flexible terms & adjustable mileage packages: In a dynamic economy, rigid contracts are a hindrance. The car subscription offers minimum terms from 3 months to 4 years and mileage packages that can be adjusted monthly from 350 km to 3,250 km. After the minimum term, you can cancel the car monthly without additional fees. Whether you equip new employees temporarily or plan your fleet long-term, you remain flexible and responsive at all times.
Do you want to make your fleet costs finally predictable and flexible? Let us calculate together how much time and money you save with a car subscription! Here you can easily schedule an appointment.
Supersaver
Get started now with the Supersavers at Carvolution from just CHF 289 per month. Discover great deals on selected models.
