Daimler FS opens Sharia-compliant unit in
Middle East
Daimler’s captive finance house has launched
two joint ventures in the Middle East to offer Sharia-compliant
finance products to buyers of Mercedes-Benz cars.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Daimler Financial Services set up the units
– Mercedes-Benz Finance Middle East and Mercedes-Benz Leasing
Middle East – in conjunction with Mercedes-Benz importers in the
United Arab Emirates. It is the first carmaker to launch its own
finance and leasing operation in the country.
“Our presence in the United Arab Emirates is
of high strategic importance for Daimler Financial Services,” said
Jürgen Walker, Daimler Financial Services chief executive.
ALD Automotive in Chinese
joint-venture
ALD Automotive and Fortune Investment have
agreed to create a fleet management joint venture in China, it has
been announced.
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By GlobalDataThe operating leasing subsidiary of the
Société Générale Group has joined forces with Fortune Invest-ment,
part of Chinese steelmaker Baosteel, with a view to “accelerate
together the development of fleet management in China, taking
advantage of the potential of the automotive sector in this
market”.
Operations of the 50-50 joint venture are
expected to commence in the coming weeks.
ALD Automotive China has had a presence in
the country since 2006 and already manages a small fleet in Beijing
and Shenzhen. ALD Automotive China’s current CEO Olivier Forges
will manage the new entity.
JCT600 becomes
SAF-approved
The retail group JCT600 is the latest
dealership chain to become SAF Approved, the Finance & Leasing
Association (FLA) announced.
SAF stands for Specialist Automotive
Finance, a programme set up by the FLA to provide training to
dealer staff on finance products, which aims to raise consumer
awareness of point-of-sale finance, to give showroom staff more
confidence when selling finance, and to create a motor finance
‘kitemark’ to boost customer confidence.
Since 1 October, dealership chains have been
eligible to become SAF Approved – the scheme started off by
certifying individual dealership staff members.
JCT600, based in Yorkshire, has 36 outlets.
It joins Vertu Motors, Mercedes-Benz Retail, Collier Motor Group,
Parks of Hamilton and Springfield Cars as a SAF-approved dealership
chain.
“I am pleased that JCT600, another of the
UK’s top dealer groups, has embraced SAF Approved and recognised
the benefits it will provide to their staff and finance customers,”
said Paul Harrison, head of motor finance at the FLA.
“The momentum behind SAF Approved continues
to grow and we are in discussion with all majority groups about
their participation.
“I believe that being an SAF Approved dealer
group will attract more customers to our showrooms as customers
seek out those dealerships committed to raising standards and who
have been certified by the FLA,” said Simon Barras, group F&I
director at JCT600.
Masterlease’s Italian unit
bought by Athlon
Athlon Car Lease has bought the Italian
operations of fleet lessor Masterlease, it was announced.
Athlon, a subsidiary of Dutch asset finance
company De Lage Landen, bought the unit from Masterlease’s parent
company GMAC at the end of September.
“[The acquisition] fits perfectly with our
aspirations to strengthen our position as one of the top players in
the European market place and to compete with the European market
leaders,” said Athlon CEO, Hans Blink.
LeasePlan appoints BCA as UK
remarketing partner
LeasePlan has appointed BCA as managing
partner for remarketing of its vehicles in the UK. The three-year
deal will see BCA handle over 30,000 units per year for the UK’s
second-biggest leasing company.
“We have entered into this partnership with
BCA with a clear sight of the targets we want to achieve and the
benefits we expect to accrue,” said Graham Rixon, LeasePlan’s
operations director.
“We have taken the view that BCA, as the
UK’s market leader, is best placed to manage every aspect of the
remarketing process for the benefit of LeasePlan and its
customers.”
BCA said it aims to deliver a
multi-channel, cradle-to-grave remarketing strategy for LeasePlan,
managing the entire remarketing process. Additionally, BCA’s
Docu-Safe service will handle all the relevant documentation for
the LeasePlan fleet, ensuring the correct V5, service history and
other collateral is assigned to the right vehicle and the right
channel.
Older fleet cars sell better
with warranties
The older profile of fleet cars returning to
the used car market has led customers to look for more peace of
mind through extended warranty cover, RAC Warranty reported.
As widely reported over the past year, many
fleets have chosen to extend contracts rather than take out new
agreements, leading to an increase in the age of many vehicles
returning to the second-hand arena when they are defleeted.
“As a direct result of the recession, during
the last 12 months or more, an estimated quarter of companies have
opted to extend their leases on existing cars beyond the
established industry standard three years/60,000 miles to four
years/80,000 miles or even beyond,” RAC Warranty said.
At the same time, rises in used car prices
mean that buyers may pay around the same for a four year-old car
today as they would have done for a three year-old car a year
ago.
“In this situation, the feedback that we are
receiving from dealers is that the warranty offered with the
vehicle is becoming an ever more important part of the deal,” said
Ian Simpson, sales and marketing director at RAC Warranty.
“Ultimately, customers are still buying but
they are seeking a safety net in the shape of a warranty that they
trust and which they believe has a high degree of credibility – and
dealers are often responding by providing higher cover within the
windscreen price,” Simpson added.
BSI to set compliance
standards
National standards body BSI is to develop a
standard for compliance teams in the financial services sector, it
has announced.
The standard will be voluntary, with the aim
of allowing companies to demonstrate regulatory compliance more
easily, through what it calls an “auditable approach”.
BSI standards director Mike Low said: “Once
published, this standard will provide a robust and consistent
framework within which an organisation will be able to administer
and manage its compliance programme, providing reassurance to
senior managers, regulators and customers by reducing the risk of
compliance failure.”
Responding to the announcement, an FLA
spokesperson said: “The FLA supports measures which improve the
professionalism and knowledge of the financial services sector. For
example, in 2007 the FLA introduced Specialist Automotive Finance
to help increase the finance knowledge of dealership staff for the
benefit of car buyers.
“SAF goes above and beyond existing
regulation and complements lenders’ training and compliance
programmes to help ensure customers get the best possible
service.”
Automotive Council created to
help motor sector
The UK government has announced that it
is to set up a special taskforce to look into ways to alleviate the
car industry’s problems.
The Automotive Council will be made up of
government and industry representatives, and will aim to help the
motor industry adapt to long-term market changes, and to attract
investment.
It will be chaired by Peter Mandelson,
business secretary, and Richard Parry-Jones, former chief technical
officer at Ford.
The Retail Motor Industry Federation
welcomed the news. Chief executive Rob Foulston said: “This is a
positive step forward for the retail motor industry; a coherent
strategy can only be good news.”
