Daimler Financial Services makes quite an impact three years on

Daimler Financial Services India (DFSI), a 100 percent subsidiary of Daimler AG, has turned three years old in India. DFSI, which offers a range of financing and insurance solutions to dealers and customers of luxury cars from Mercedes-Benz India and BharatBenz trucks from Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), says it currently manages a portfolio of over Rs 2500 crore.

DFSI is the leading financier of Mercedes-Benz cars in India and also finances one out of every three BharatBenz trucks sold in the Indian market. Sidhartha Nair, managing director of Daimler Financial Services India, said, “We are a team of over 100 employees supporting all Daimler auto financing needs across India, both for passenger cars and CVs. Nearly all Daimler dealerships use our financing solutions and our overall retail contract base has grown to over 9,000.”

He added, “Thanks to the innovative and customised approach, DFSI today is the first choice provider of financial services products for our dealers and customers. Nearly 70 percent of customers are opting for vehicle finance and thus understanding our customers better and being able to offer them a one-stop customised solution in a quick and efficient manner is what differentiates us from others in the segment.”

Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, said, “Daimler Financial Services has been a key pillar to our India strategy and has played a pivotal role in our growth. Our customers have appreciated the value added by the financial programmes like Star Agility and Star Lease introduced by DFS India, which are one of its kind in the luxury car industry. DFS will continue to play a key role in our future strategies as we expect the current market to grow significantly higher in the foreseeable future and vehicle financing forming the backbone of our services for our discerning customers.”

Speaking about the association with DFSI, Sreeram Venkateswaran, vice-president – Domestic Sales, Product Management and Network, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), said, “DFSI has become an integral part of our sales process. It has always been proactive in offering the best financing solutions for our customers and is one of the preferred financiers of our trucks.”

Daimler Financial Services operates in 40 countries and employs more than 8,000 people. At the end of 2013, it managed leasing and financing contracts worth approximately 84 billion euros (Rs 679,140 crore) and recorded EBIT of around 1.3 billion euros (Rs 10,510 crore).