Why is finance leasing used for selling new cars?

• My father bought a new car. If he choose a finance leasing as a financing option, he got a massive 20% discount. Great.
• But the question for me was why? Does the vendor get a tax cut? What makes them willing to give that much discount?
• Slovenian car salesmen are using financial leasing more widely, since we joined EU. In other words since you don't have to pay customs duties for selling a car within the EU.
• Big corporations - car companies, want to discriminate the markets and they use the local representatives to do it. They make sure that same cars are sold for different prices on different markets. For example an identical ford focus would be sold for 15000€ in Germany and 10000€ in Romania, because poorer markets demand lower prices (lets skip the different vehicle taxes issue).
• However, this mechanism only works if there are barriers that prevent "business men" from buying cheap new cars in Romania and selling them in Germany cheaper, than the official representatives. In other words, they want to make sure EU market doesn't become a one market.
• And the most elegant way to achieve this is by giving your buyers "special" discounts if they buy using leasing, because the leasing contracts prevent buyers form selling new cars for at least a year. (Due to ownership issues...).
• And the guardian of free market- the EU commission says: It is OK, because we have the competition between different car brands. Audi will compete with Opel.
• So next time you buy a car using financial leasing, remember that Hans and Lars paid the brakes and the clutch on your new car :)