KLeasing to target fleets, inventories of dealers next year
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Firm joins DFSK to fund sales of used Dongfeng vehicles
Kasikorn Leasing aims to concentrate more on financing fleet vehicles and auto-dealership inventories in 2015 as it foresees another year of slow growth in loans to individual car buyers.
Surat Leelataviwat, acting managing director of KLeasing, said the approach of the Asean Economic Community had enhanced the growth of fleet-vehicle purchases, which at present accounted for 20 per cent of its loan portfolio.
The company has also seen positive signs of more loans extended to auto dealers as they increase their inventories for the year-end period and early next year.
“Fleet vehicles and dealer inventories are the focus, while commercial vehicles including mini-trucks are another segment that will show good prospects. This type of vehicle is in demand from small businesses operators,” he said.
KLeasing yesterday partnered with DFSK Thailand, the local maker of vehicles under the Chinese Dongfeng brand, launching the “DFSK Yes!” project to offer loans to buyers of used Dongfengs.
Pitaya Tanadamrongsak, managing director DFSK Thailand, said “DFSK Yes!” would help improve the prices of used Dongfeng mini-trucks, which usually depreciate by 50 per cent after only one year. The company hopes the project will lower that depreciation rate to 40 per cent.
The prices of new Dongfeng mini-trucks start at Bt308,000.
Surat said the project was expected to finance the purchase of 300 vehicles, valued at around Bt40 million, by the end of next year.
Kasikorn Research expects sales of commercial vehicles next year to expand by no less than 5 per cent.
The proportion of new-auto loans in KLeasing’s portfolio will gradually decline to 55 per cent next year from 60 per cent now and the proportion should be 50 per cent in the near future, Surat said.
He said lending for new cars next year was not expected to grow much because the key drivers of this sector were new buyers. The government’s first-car-buyer scheme reduced the number of these customers; therefore, demand among first-time buyers will not become significant again until 2016.
KLeasing expects its outstanding loans next year to grow by 2 per cent.
Year to date, its outstanding loans have dropped a little to Bt88 billion because of slower car sales, but Surat is optimistic that lending will pick up in the remaining months so the full-year figure will not shrink from the 2013 level.
