Daimler Financial Services heads for record year - contract volume will double by 2020

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Daimler Financial Services once again expects to achieve
record business results in 2012. In the first ten months of the year,
Daimler’s financial services subsidiary posted all-time highs for new
business and contract volume, and its operating profit (EBIT) rose
above €1 billion for the first time in the first three quarters. EBIT
therefore surpassed even last year’s all-time high, and the company
expects it to rise to around €1.3 billion for the year as a whole. “We
are on course to set a new record, and we want to achieve strong
growth even when the overall economy is weak,” said Board of
Management Chairman Klaus Entenmann in Stuttgart on Monday.
On average, Daimler Financial Services finances or leases four out of
ten Daimler vehicles worldwide. During the first ten months of the
year, the company’s new business (i.e. the value of all of the leasing
and financing contracts concluded in 2012 to date) rose to the
record value of €30.9 billion (+15 percent). Contract volume, which
is the value of all of the leasing and financing contracts managed by
the company, also set a new record, amounting to €77.5 billion (+18
percent) during the same period. In addition, Daimler Financial
Services brokered more insurance policies than ever before. In fact,
the number of new contracts increased by 14 percent to more than
860,000. Thanks to close collaboration with major insurance
partners, Mercedes customers can benefit from customized
insurance solutions which ensure that damaged automobiles are
repaired in authorized workshops by experts using genuine spare
parts.

As part of its DFS 2020 strategy, Daimler Financial Services plans to
continue to grow profitably in the coming years. „Until the end of the
decade, we want to nearly double our worldwide contract volume
compared to 2011“, said Entenmann. Important growth drivers
include the expansion of the company’s business in Asia, the
Daimler Group’s product offensives and the increase in the range of
innovative mobility services. The company expects to post especially
strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region, where its new business rose
by 23 percent to €4.4 billion in the first ten months of 2012,
compared to the same period last year. In August, the company
became the first premium automobile manufacturer to offer leasing
products in China. In addition, the company successfully launched
its financing business in India for Daimler’s new locally produced
truck brand, BharatBenz. In November 2012, the company also
kicked off its financing business in Malaysia, which is an important
southeast Asian market with more than 28 million inhabitants.

Daimler Financial Services is also set to grow in Europe and the
Americas. In both regions, the company concluded substantially
more new leasing and financing contracts through October than in
past years. New business amounted to €14.9 billion (+ 13 percent)
in Europe and to €11.6 billion (+17 percent) in the Americas. “We
want to grow in our traditional core markets in the wake of Daimler’s
current product offensives,” said Entenmann. With its new compact
models, Daimler particularly wants to reach young customers, who are
especially open to financing and leasing offers. For the new
Mercedes-Benz A-Class, for example, the company is offering target
group-appropriate all-in-one packages that include financing,
insurance and service.

Daimler Financial Services sees additional growth opportunities in
the area of innovative mobility services. Its subsidiary car2go GmbH
is now represented in 15 cities in Europe and North America. In
addition, it has a total of over 220,000 customers, which is almost
four times more than at the beginning of 2012. “We want to enable
even more people to use car2go, which is why we plan to be
represented in more than 50 cities by the middle of the decade,”
said Entenmann. A car2go vehicle is rented about every four-and-a-half
seconds on average in the cities in which the service is
provided. Over the long term, Daimler Financial Services also plans
to offer additional innovative mobility services. “We want to expand
from a automotive financial services company to a provider of
mobility services,” said Entenmann. “Ultimately, our imagination is
not limited to car2go.”
Credits: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.

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Daimler Financial Services AG names Zurich Insurance Group "Insurer of the Year"

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Daimler Financial Services AG has named Zurich Insurance Group the “2011 Insurer of the Year” in the automotive segment. This is the second time Daimler Financial Services has presented the award. The company selected Zurich Insurance Group to receive the award because of its outstanding solutions for the auto insurance sector. “Our award is designed to promote competition among our strategic partners in the insurance industry and to honor excellent performance,” said Hanns Martin Schindewolf, CEO and Chairman of Daimler Insurance Services GmbH, during the award ceremony in Zurich on Friday. “Zurich Insurance Group proved to be a truly outstanding partner last year.” The premium volume of automobile-related insurance policies managed by Zurich and sold by Daimler rose by 58 percent to €90 million in 2011. Zurich also distinguished itself through a high level of reliability, an extensive focus on service, and exceptional innovative capability.

Automobile-related insurance remains a strategic growth sector for Daimler Financial Services. “Every driver needs insurance - and we want to make automotive insurance with the star a standard feature of Daimler vehicles,” said Schindewolf.

Auto insurance policies brokered by Daimler offer numerous advantages to customers, who can conveniently sign up for the policies they need right at the dealership. Customers also benefit from the exclusive terms that can only be obtained through cooperation between vehicle manufacturers and insurance companies. Daimler’s partnership with Zurich makes it possible to offer more favorable premiums to customers who opt for vehicles with extensive safety systems. Customers can also enjoy the feeling of security that comes with knowing that if their vehicle is damaged, it will be repaired at an authorized Mercedes-Benz service center that uses only genuine parts. Among other things, this ensures that the car will retain a higher value. In addition, customers are usually issued a Mercedes-Benz replacement vehicle while their car is being repaired. Zurich and Daimler are constantly working together to further improve the brand experience.

Cooperation with Daimler benefits the insurance sector as well. “Zurich’s partnership with Daimler allows us to approach customers right at the dealership and explain to them the various advantages and details of our policies,” said Thomas Hürlimann, CEO Global Corporate at Zurich Insurance Group, during the award ceremony. “We can also develop special offers with Daimler that would not be possible without close cooperation with an automaker. We’re very pleased to be honored with this award - but we also view it as an incentive to continue growing with Daimler in the sector for automobile-related insurance, and to jointly develop new innovative products and services.”

Daimler Financial Services currently cooperates with about a dozen strategic partners in the area of auto insurance. The company is already working with Zurich in 14 countries. Daimler Financial Services sold more than 500,000 automobile-related insurance policies in the first half of 2012, which marked an all-time high for the company.

Credits: Daimler AG

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