In line with estimates that Chinese
leasing volumes in 2009 will double last year’s ¥155 billion (€17
billion) figure, the economic downturn has led European captives to
look at China as a potentially lucrative marketplace to launch or
increase their businesses.
Daimler Financial Services, for example,
recently won approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission
to launch its vehicle leasing business in Beijing.
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Its subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance,
will be the first auto finance company to offer leasing in
China.
It will initially focus on fleet leasing to
companies in Beijing, and subsequently expand to the rest of the
country, financing cars and CVs.
In the equipment leasing sector, Siemens
Finance and Leasing (SFLL), part of Siemens Financial Services,
said it also expects the market to grow.
Starting operations in 2004, SFLL was one of
the first foreign lessors in China, having obtained a leasing
licence from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Although the downturn has had an impact on
volumes, the lessor expects that low leasing penetration rates
coupled with large equipment sales volumes will “provide a good
foundation for the future of the industry and for SFLL”.
While the recently announced Chinese
government stimulus package would offer indirect assistance to the
leasing industry in the short-term, SFLL said that it is in the
medium- to long-term that it expects significant growth.
In addition, it added that new products and
the development of different business models there remained a
“sizeable opportunity yet to be tapped”.
