Daimler AG has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to set up a non-banking finance company for its financial services business in India. The new company, Daimler Financial Services India Private Ltd., will be a 100 per cent subsidiary of Daimler AG and is expected to be operational in the third quarter 2011.
“With business activities in over 40 countries, Daimler Financial Services is one of the leading automotive financial services companies in the world. Every second passenger car and every fourth commercial vehicle from Daimler is financed or leased by us. India is one of the fastest growing automotive markets and the Daimler Group has high expectations from this market,” said Richard Howard, Member on the Board of Management of Daimler Financial Services AG responsible for Africa and Asia/Pacific.
Daimler Financial Services India will support the sales of Mercedes-Benz cars and Daimler trucks as there is a large demand for financing solutions in the market. It will initially invest upwards of $50 million as part of market entry.
“By providing innovative and customized finance and insurance solutions to dealers and customers, we intend to enrich the ownership experience of Mercedes-Benz and BharatBenz branded automotive products, under the Mercedes-Benz Financial and BharatBenz Financial labels”, said Mr. Sidhartha Nair, Managing Director, Daimler Financial Services India Private Ltd.
The product range of the new company will include financing, leasing, insurance and dealer financing for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars at market launch. The commercial vehicle finance products will be offered, for the newly developed Daimler truck brand for the Indian market, BharatBenz, in 2012, after the start of truck production in Oragadam, close to Chennai.
