Mercedes-Benz Bank recorded an 8% increase in new leasing and finance business in Germany in 2014, achieving a new annual record of 9.9bn (£7.2bn).
According to the automotive bank, growth was triggered by an expansion in the fleet management business with commercial customers and the used-vehicle business with private customers. Together, these two areas grew by 27%.
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Three-way financing, where customers are able return the automobile to the dealer at a guaranteed residual value once the contract expires, increased by 17% last year.
At the end of 2014, the automotive bank had more than 790,000 cars, vans, trucks and buses on its books, worth a total value of 18.7bn.
In addition, the bank said that more than half of the new Daimler vehicles registered in Germany were bought with leasing and finance contracts.
"Automotive banks will organize their business activities in line with two major customer trends in the future. For one thing, people are moving away from car ownership and toward car use. That’s why more and more customers no longer want traditional consumer credit, but instead demand flexible leasing and rental solutions that are adapted to their personal or business situation," the bank wrote.
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By GlobalDataChairman at Mercedes-Benz Bank Franz Reiner said that automotive banks will experience a paradigm shift in the future, as they will increasingly turn into mobility banks.
Mercedes-Benz Bank is part of Daimler Financial Services, which managed global contracts worth a total of 99bn in 40 markets at the end of 2014.
Last year, Daimler Financial Services concluded approximately 690,000 new financing and leasing contracts worth 21.6 billion – 11% increase year-on-year- in the Europe region.
In the UK, Daimler recorded a growth rate of 14% in new financing and leasing contracts.
