Volkswagen NBFC to start financing of pre-owned cars from Jan

MUMBAI: German carmaker Volkswagen, which received a licence recently from the Reserve Bank of India to start its non-banking finance company ( NBFC ., plans to finance pre-owned cars from early next year.

"We have received the licence from RBI to start our NBFC. We will start financing pre-owned cars from January 2012," Volkswagen Finance India Board's Chairman Joern Achim Kurzrock told PTI here.

"India being one of the fastest-growing economies, Volkswagen Finance wants to position itself in the market as a mobility provider with products which fully respect the needs of VW, Skoda and Audi customers. Our focus is to support the sales of our branded vehicles to customers," he said.

The company is eyeing a huge opportunity in the pre-owned car segment and wants to cash in on it. "We feel demand for pre-owned cars is good in the Indian market and we want to bank on the opportunity," Kurzrock said.

Volkswagen Finance India is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG and is headquartered in Braunschweig, Germany . Volkswagen Financial Services (VWF) provides captive financial services for its brand cars and supports vehicle sales in 38 countries.

The auto major received the RBI licence last month-end to start its NBFC. Volkswagen Finance plans to invest over Rs 120 crore in India and aims to cover the entire country in the next three-four weeks.

"Our brands have witnessed a great demand in the Indian market in the last six months," he said. Volkswagen sold 8,095 units in March on the back of its two recent offerings - the hatchback Polo and its sedan Vento.

Source: EconomicTimes