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ABU DHABI, UAE and BERLIN, October 7/PRNewswire/ --
- Joint Venture With Mercedes-Benz Importers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai - the Al Fahim Group and Gargash Enterprises.
- The new Companies Mercedes-Benz Finance Middle East and Mercedes-Benz Leasing Middle East Offer Financial Services for Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles
- Medium-term Target: Contract Volume of EUR300 million
Picture is available via EPA (European Pressphoto Agency) and can be downloaded free of charge at: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/64613/?keygroup=bild
Daimler Financial Services AG, headquartered in Berlin, is expanding its global presence to include the Middle East growth region. Toward this end, the company announced the official opening of Mercedes-Benz Finance
Middle East and Mercedes-Benz Leasing Middle East on October 7, 2009 at a press conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Both new companies are part of a joint venture between Daimler Financial Services and the Al Fahim Group, owners of Emirates Motor Company, the authorized Mercedes-Benz distributor in the Abu Dhabi Emirate as well as Gargash Enterprises, the official distributor of Mercedes-Benz Cars in Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates.
The new companies are headquartered in Dubai and offer loans and leasing to private and business customers for new and pre-owned passenger cars and commercial vehicles, including a shari’a compliant Islamic finance product. This enables Mercedes-Benz dealers in the United Arab Emirates to now provide their customers with the complete range of financial services.
"Our presence in the United Arab Emirates is of high strategic importance for Daimler Financial Services," said Daimler Financial Services CEO Juergen Walker at a press conference in Abu Dhabi. "It makes us the first automaker to have its own finance and leasing company in the United Arab Emirates. Once we have successfully established our business operations here, in the mid-term we will decide about offering financial services in other Middle Eastern markets as well."
The United Arab Emirates represent the most important passenger car market in the region Middle East for Mercedes-Benz. In 2008, Mercedes-Benz sold 7,800 passenger cars and 3,100 commercial vehicles in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates.
Mr. Andreas Ernst, Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz Finance and Mercedes-Benz Leasing, said that the medium-term goal of the new companies was to achieve a contract volume of more than EUR300 million in the United Arab Emirates in three to five years: "To meet this target, we will be offering a comprehensive range of financial services from a single source to meet the needs of private or business customers. And we will support our dealerships with an electronic point-of-sale system that will result in faster loan decisions and a customer-friendly process."
Mr. Rashed A. J. Al Fahim, Chairman of the Al Fahim Group, welcomed the formation of the joint venture and looked forward to a positive future: "We are confident and expect stronger Mercedes-Benz sales. The start of our
jointly owned financial companies will further boost the attractiveness of the Mercedes-Benz brand in Abu Dhabi."
Mr. Abdul Jabbar Gargash, Executive Director of Gargash Enterprises looked forward to the start of the new businesses: "For the first time, we can now provide our Mercedes-Benz customers in Dubai, Sharjah and the
Northern Emirates with a broad range of financial services products that make owning a new or used Mercedes-Benz the easiest it has ever been."
With its new financial services in the United Arab Emirates, Daimler Financial Services AG has further expanded its global presence. The Daimler Group’s international provider of financial services employs about 6,800
people and is represented in more than 40 countries. The company currently finances or leases one third of all vehicles produced by Daimler worldwide and manages a contract volume of EUR60 billion.
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