It's not new, it's been around for years. You can either pay the final payment, hand it back it back and walk away, or what a lot of people do, use the difference in car value vs final payment to put a deposit on a new car with the same dealer. This is why you see people with a new car every 3 years, but it's always the same manufacturer.
Yes it's pretty much renting a car, but some like having a new car all the time and this is probably the best way to achieve that, unless your loaded.