U.S. franchised Volkswagen dealers received their annual list of end-of-year promotions yesterday, and a perennial favorite, the Sign-Then-Drive lease promotion, is conspicuously absent.

Automotive News’s Jack Walsworth was first to report the omission of the program, which has allowed qualified lessees to drive off the lot in a new VW with no money owed — no down payment, no deposit, no first month’s payment.

Sign-Then-Drive launched in 2007 and quickly became a fixture in national, regional and local TV ads and in dealership Facebook posts. Last year, a 15-second Tier 1 spot featured “Frank,” a factory bean counter played by comedian Bill Devlin, leaving a Volkswagen showroom for Christmas vacation.

“When our numbers guy is out, the deals on the most affordable German-engineered car brand get even better,” a narrator says.

Edmunds analyst Ivan Drury tells Walsworth the deletion will have “ramifications” for dealers, noting the brand’s lease rate is significantly higher than the national average. “Once you pull away this super cheap and viable option, they’re going to look elsewhere.”

Read more at Volkswagen of America