[saltcured]

Answering from a US point of view... Generally, the total cost of leasing a car is going to be more than the total cost to buy a car on a loan and resell the car in the same time period. In a perfect market, I think the difference in the total cost of loan versus lease is essentially the value of transferring risk from the consumer to the lessor as to whether the car retains its anticipated residual value at the end of the term.

With a loan, the buyer pays off the principal and interest and absorbs any discrepancy between the resale value and the remaining debt. With a lease, the lessor absorbs the discrepancy as long as the consumer meets the other stipulations of the lease, such as mileage limits and maintenance. The lessor acts almost like an insurer to charge fees and absorb this risk across a whole fleet of cars.