Serge Naudin, president and CEO of BMW Group Financial Services Region China. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
BMW Automotive Finance China is celebrating a decade of business in China by further committing to providing high-quality and innovative financial services to Chinese customers.
To date, BMW Automotive Finance China has served 2 million Chinese customers, providing an accumulated finance value of 416 billion yuan (US$63.11 billion)
"Our development in the past decade has been tremendous and we have grown into one of the leading auto finance companies in the country," said Serge Naudin, president and CEO of BMW Group Financial Services Region China.
To date, it has served 2 million Chinese customers, providing an accumulated finance value of 416 billion yuan (US$63.11 billion).
The registered capital of the company has increased to 9.8 billion yuan and the value of its serviced portfolio has achieved 100 billion yuan by the end of 2019.
With the rapid development of digital economy in China, customers are gradually changing their consumption expectations and habits.
BMW Automotive Finance China has made great efforts to accelerate its digital transformation to provide more convenient and personalized digital services for customers.
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Naudin said their continuous innovation and progresses in digitalization can be the best celebration of the 10th anniversary.
It is important to facilitate service innovations and achieve high-quality and sustainable growth.
In October, the company launched its front-end and back-end system known as "Dragon" for its retail finance business.
A system for wholesale business was put into operation last year.
The new IT system provides more convenient, flexible and faster services for dealers and customers, and ensures the security of their accounts and transaction information, according to the company.
The secure, efficient and digitalized operating system can support dealers in reaching out to customers from all perspectives, thus contributing to future business growth.
At the end of February, the company launched its eFinance app nationwide to provide online services from the submission of applications to contract signing for customers in need of retail financial loans or financial leases.
According to the company, more than 60 percent of financial customers submit applications and sign contracts via the app now. And the number is rising steadily.
An AI chat-bot has been used to answer customers' questions since last year. It is an innovative local project that was completely born in China. Unlike other chat-bots that only offer regular FAQs, this AI chatbot is a service-oriented intelligent assistant that delivers natural answers based on customer profiles and browsing histories. The chat-bot can handle nearly 80 percent of all customer inquiries independently now.
BMW Automotive Finance China has made great efforts to accelerate its digital transformation to provide more convenient and personalized digital services for customers. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
The company has also made efforts to expand channels for customers to access their financial products. It actively works with BMW Group to provide an integrated digital journey in China.
We believe that many new energy vehicle owners want to change a new car every two or three years and we need to provide them with customized financial products. The new energy vehicle rental services for half day, one day or one month may be provided in the future.
Serge Naudin, president and CEO of BMW Group Financial Services Region China
BMW's financial services are available through different channels, including dealers, BMW's official website, BMW Automobile Finance's official WeChat account and the eFinance app. BMW partnered with China's e-commerce giant Alibaba on digital transformations across businesses in the country last month. BMW financial products are expected to be launched on Alibaba's Tmall with the aim of providing personalized digital services to all customers.
"These digital solutions will help customers to access to high-quality BMW financial products and services anytime and anywhere," Naudin said.
According to statistics, the penetration rate is around 40 percent in the auto finance industry in the Chinese market.
Naudin believes the Chinese auto finance market still has great potential for development, while they have faced competition from banking institutions, who have begun to focus on the automotive finance services sector. "Compared with banks, auto finance companies not only focus on models, but also the lifecycle of products. At the same time, we have a close relationship with the car manufacturing factory, which will help to customize financial products for different models, different purchase demands and different customer types," Naudin said.
To further expand its market share, BMW Automotive Finance China will promote the used car business, which has large room for development in China. Financial products and leasing services will help dealers gain better used car resources and create opportunities to enhance customer loyalty.
With the BMW electric SUV iX3 being made at its plant in Shenyang from September, scheduled to hit global markets soon, finance services for new energy vehicles may also be considered in the future, Naudin said.
"We believe that many new energy vehicle owners want to change a new car every two or three years and we need to provide them with customized financial products. The new energy vehicle rental services for half day, one day or one month may be provided in the future," he added.
The company will further subdivide customers' demands and introduce multiple financial products.
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At the same time, the company takes sustainability as its priority, which can be reflected in its teams. It is consistently providing opportunities for its associates and support them for their individual development.
"BMW Automotive Finance China has achieved outstanding results in the past decade thanks to the excellent team with more than 500 employees and 98 percent of them are locals," Naudin said.
"The Chinese government promoting opening-up has given us great confidence and attaching importance to trade in services has opened the door to further growth for us in the future.
"We are looking forward to the development of the next decade and will stick to our confidence and commitment to speeding up local development and investment in the Chinese market," Naudin said.
Since established in 2010 in Beijing, the company offers retail loan to customers and wholesale and facilities loan to BMW dealers.
BMW Group acquired Herald International Financial Leasing in 2016, one of the country's leading leasing providers, to strengthen its position in the growing Chinese auto market.
