Ford And Canvas Partner On Short-Term Auto Leasing

Canvas, which offers short-term auto leases, is working with one of the most established names in the American automotive game — Ford. Or, to be more specific, Ford Motor Credit Company, the dealer and consumer financing arm of the car company.

The firm specializes in offering variable-term leases with flexible payment options, focused on customers that might otherwise find it difficult to qualify for more conventional auto leases or don’t want to make long-term financial commitments. The firm’s first instantiation was a start-up called Breeze.

Breeze was initially focused on short-term leasing for Uber and Lyft drivers. When those firms began offering financing plans independently, Breeze found its consumer base too limited and was forced to shut its doors.  Ford purchased the remnants of Breeze and much of its staff and restructured the firm internally as Canvas.  The Breeze acquisition, apart from new staff, also gave Ford Credit access to a web-based platform and monthly vehicle “subscriptions” that bundle maintenance, insurance and roadside assistance, aimed at younger, non-traditional drivers.

Canvas — in its new, pivoted form — is now online in the Bay Area, and is expected to expand out nationwide in the near future.

“Our mission is to identify, test and launch financial products that meet the changing needs of consumers,” said Ned Ryan, co-founder of Breeze and chief executive officer of Canvas, in an interview.

Ford Credit recognized “the need for financial services and technology to facilitate our future vision of mobile,” said David McClelland, executive vice president of marketing and sales.

Plus, Canvas also buys used Ford vehicles coming off lease — which means the firm is a new source of revenue and a new method of managing resale of used cars.

Canvas is aiming at consumers who want “a simpler, more flexible alternative to car ownership,” said Ryan. “We’re addressing the void in the consumer space between daily rentals and long-term (financial) commitments. You just add gas.”