Mercedes 2010 Annual Report Download - page 139

The Divisions | Daimler Financial Services | 135
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services expanded its offering for
smart phones and other mobile internet devices in the United
States, allowing flexible and convenient payment of leasing and
financing installments. Beginning in the second quarter of 2010,
all Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the USA were equipped with
Apple iPads®, which enable sales staff to directly access the dealer
system at the point of sale. This step not only increases the
flexibility and effectiveness of sales negotiations, but also makes
it easier for customers to return leased vehicles.
Strong growth in Asia. Contract volume rose by 28% to €8.7
billion in the Africa & Asia/Pacific region. Adjusted for exchange-
rate effects, contract volume increased by 7%. New business
of €3.6 billion was 45% higher than in the prior year.
All of the region’s markets contributed to this expansion. Growth
was particularly strong in China, where contract volume rose
by 101% to €958 million. Contract volume increased by double-
digit rates also in other markets of the region, including South
Korea (+51%), Thailand (+28%), Australia (+25%), South Africa (+24%)
and Japan (+14%). With the rapid growth in the region, risk manage-
ment has continued to be a priority to assure continued portfolio
quality.
Growing business with insurance. The Insurance Services
unit brokered more than 839,000 policies worldwide in 2010,
representing an increase of 22% compared with the prior year.
This growth was achieved by effectively combining insurance
services with leasing and financing products, service contracts
and additional safety features in the vehicles. Other growth
factors included the consistent utilization of business opportu-
nities in growth markets such as China and the increased
brokerage of insurance products to cash buyers.
In 2010, Daimler Financial Services concluded further partner-
ship agreements with international insurance companies. For
example, it signed a framework agreement with Allianz SE regu-
lating the two companies’ collaboration in the global motor
insurance business. The contracts stipulate that damaged vehicles
are to be brought to Mercedes-Benz repair shops. With this
agreement, we ensure that our customers receive top-quality
service while also generating additional business for our spare
parts and repair business.
Daimler Financial Services attracted many new customers last year; new business increased by a significant 17 percent.
Growth in the fleet business with commercial customers.
During the year under review, Daimler Financial Services once
again expanded its business with commercial customers and
fleet operators. It played a major role in supporting sales and
increasing the proportion of financed Mercedes-Benz vehicles
in commercial fleets. At 112,000 units, new business in this
segment was 35% higher than in the prior year. Contract volume
rose by 5% to 303,000 units. This shows that Daimler Financial
Services’ high level of reliability during the financial and economic
crisis and the resulting rise in customer trust are now paying off.
The products offered in this segment range from financing, leasing
and full-service leasing to fleet management services for owner-
operators and major international customers.
Top rankings for customer and dealer satisfaction. Daimler
Financial Services achieved top marks in a number of global
customer and dealer satisfaction surveys during the year under
review. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services in the United States
came in first in the overall dealer satisfaction category of the
J. D. Power survey. Mercedes-Benz Bank in Germany was once
again voted the best premium-segment financial services provider
in the Autohaus BankenMonitor 2010 survey. In the United King-
dom, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services once again took first place
in the Sewells survey of dealer satisfaction. Mercedes-Benz
Financial Services was voted number one also in an AC Nielsen
survey of dealer satisfaction in Australia and in industry-wide
dealer satisfaction surveys in Russia, Portugal and the Czech
Republic.
Toll Collect system continues to run smoothly. The system
for collecting truck tolls on German highways continued to run
smoothly and without any disturbances. A total of 665,600
on-board units for automatic toll collection were in use at the end
of the year. Tolls were collected for a total distance of 25.8 billion
kilometers during 2010. Daimler Financial Services holds a 45%
stake in the Toll Collect consortium.