Mercedes-Benz Leasing sees good growth despite difficulties
DESPITE the flat overall auto leasing market that is anticipated for this year, the value of leasing loans for the financing of luxury vehicles is expected to show tremendous growth due to the limited impact on the high-end segment from economic and polit
Mercedes-Benz Leasing (Thai-land), which controls almost 50 per cent of the market for leasing finance granted to Mercedes-Benz vehicles, yesterday announced 15-per-cent growth in its car leasing portfolio in the first six months of the year to Bt30.2 billion, against Bt26.2 billion in the same period last year.
Managing director Supavut Jiramanusnakorn said overall new lending of Bt600 billion is expected to finance the auto leasing market this year, which would be flat – or could even decline – in comparison to last year’s performance.
The forecast is in line with the roughly 800,000 new vehicles expected to be sold by all auto-makers in Thailand this year.
Between 18,000 and 19,000 of new vehicle sales are expected to be luxury cars priced more than Bt2 million each, he said.
“For Mercedes-Benz Leasing, we expect between Bt15 billion and Bt20 billion of new loans granted by the company to finance its clients in terms of auto leasing this year, which would be 15 to 20 per cent higher than last year,” he added.
“We also expect an average 10-per-cent growth in our auto leasing portfolio every year over the next five years,” the MD said.
Supavut explained that in contrast to other kinds of vehicles in the mass market, luxury cars had received very limited impact from the current difficulties, whether local financial or economic problems, or the political crisis – or even the state of the global economy.
There has been no significant effect on the financial burden carried by this group of customers, who have high purchasing power, he stressed.
Despite growth in its car leasing portfolio, the company has also managed to maintain a low level of non-performing loans (NPLs), when compared with the industry average.
“Our NPL level is as low as 0.5 per cent, four times lower than the industry average of 2 per cent,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Leasing (Thailand), which has operated in the auto leasing sector in the Kingdom for almost 20 years, yesterday announced a strategic move into full digitalisation, especially on different touch-points in communicating and conducting business transactions with its dealers and customers.
The new online services will cater to greater demands from today’s individual customers, who have changed their lifestyle and way of conducting financial transactions towards digital and online.
Jirapong Michel Ponnaz, director of sales and marketing, said the company would continue to focus on “The Best” strategy over the remainder of this year in order to deliver the best products and services with comprehensive coverage of all customer groups, and create the best customer experience.
“More importantly, the third and fourth quarters will highlight the best communication channel to enhance our communication with Mercedes-Benz dealers and retail customers,” he said.
The new online platforms will enable quicker and more convenient access to products and services of Mercedes-Benz Leasing Thailand anywhere and anytime, which “responds perfectly to the digital lifestyle of its target customers”, he added.
