Mercedes Benz brings vehicle leasing into China

Mercedes Benz Auto Finance (MBAC) will become the first finance company to offer vehicle leasing on the Chinese market after receiving the approval of the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission. Starting in March, MBAC plans to begin its work by focusing on corporate fleet leasing to companies in Beijing.

"We welcome the government's decision to enable auto finance companies to offer leasing in China, as we believe this will have a positive impact on the Chinese vehicle market,” Ulrich Walker, Daimler Northeast Asia said.

"While leasing is very new in China, we believe it has potential to grow over the mid-term, especially as consumers understand more about the flexible and attractive financing options," stated the official.

Mercedes Benz provides a number of vehicle financing and insurance options for Mercedes-Benz cars, trucks and vans in China. At the end of 2008, the company managed a contract volume of 328 million euros.

"By leasing a vehicle, consumers will be able to drive a Mercedes-Benz, leverage their existing money in other ways, and have the flexibility of changing to a new car more frequently," Wolf Bay, MBAC CEO added.

In the group's overall business, Daimler Financial Services is responsible for a contract volume of 63 billion euros. Worldwide more than every third new group vehicle is financed or leased by Daimler Financial Services.

By the end of 2008, 80 foreign-funded and 37 domestic-funded financial leasing companies were present in China with the approval of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Allowing Mercedes Benz to offer vehicle leasing in China is part of the governments stimulus package meant to boost new car sales.

New Beijing-brand sedan may use Benz engine

Shanghai, February 11 (Gasgoo.com) Beijing Auto's two newly designed Beijing-brand sedan models displayed at the 2008 Beijing auto show are expected to enter the auto market in 2010, and one of them will be equipped with the Mercedes-Benz engine and power assembly, xinhuanet.com reported today.
The two new sedan models carrying the re-designed Beijing-brand logo were independently developed by Beijing Automotive Design Institute and will be produced on the production line of Beijing Benz Automotive Co., formerly called Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive Co. (BBDC). Chrysler quit the Beijing-based joint venture in late 2008.
One of the all-new Beijing-brand sedan models will target the medium- and high-end market segments of business and commercial sedans. Several power assembly schemes have been drawn up, with one of the sedan models to be equipped with the Mercedes-Benz engine and power assembly.
Mercedes-Benz China Ltd said that sales of Mercedes-Benz brand cars in China soared almost 45% in 2008 to 38,700 units though the market was hurt by the economic crisis. The lengthened version of Mercedes-Benz E-class will be produced in Beijing by 2010.
Beijing's auto industry saw a strong growth in January, with 60,000 vehicles sold, up 17% from a year earlier. Beijing Auto, which has joint ventures with Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz, aims to achieve 100 billion yuan ($14.7 billion) in sales revenue this year, up 34% from 2008.