Mercedes-Benz Financial Services celebrates 20 golden years

Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (MBFS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of automotive giant, Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) celebrates 20 successful years this year. MBFS first opened its doors on 01 April 1997. The company started out small with no more than a handful of personnel but currently boasts a staff complement of 190 employees.

Over the years, the captive finance company has transformed luxury car financing by developing many products to suit the South African economy, satisfying both the commercial vehicle and passenger car markets. With evolving consumer trends, MBFS introduced a financial offering called Agility, in June 2013. This unique product gives customers flexibility, affordability and peace of mind over a shorter term by guaranteeing the future value of the vehicle and offering the option to extend the financing plan, refinance or return of the vehicle at the end of the contract.

In 2016, MBFS added a total of almost R9.5bn worth of acquisitions which resulted in an all-time high portfolio of R28.6bn; an achievement with significant contribution attributed to the success of the Agility Finance Product. The healthy acquisition volume assisted MBFS in achieving its ultimate goal: “Helping to sell more cars, to more people, more often”.

“Our Agility product has proven to be winning formulae and a ground-breaking success story that we will continue to build upon, well into the future. In the evolving South African market, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services is committed to understanding our customers’ changing needs and offering financial products and services that provide the flexibility and convenience they have come to expect from MBFS,” says Joerg Essig, Chairman of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.

In a study conducted by Nielsen in 2016, MBFS was ranked #1 in the Dealer Satisfaction Index, leading competing banks by a healthy margin. MBFS Passenger Cars scored 89%, 10% ahead of its closest competitor and MBFS Commercial Vehicles 85%, 16% ahead of its closest competitor. MBFS ranked #1 in the Customer Satisfaction Index, compared to competing banks.

“These results are a testament to the commitment that our passionate and dedicated dealer partners have for the brand. We are proud that our customer-centric strategy is deeply rooted in the way that we do business with our customers. This close collaboration has yielded great results, of which we are very proud,” added Essig.

With twenty years of success, MBFS will continue to grow its core business and with new financial products in the pipeline, the company is excitedly looking forward to what the future holds.

“In this rapidly changing digital world, we are focused on digitalising the customer journey. We are also creating new fascinating finance products that are possible because of our highly engaged and motivated employees, including our dedicated business partners. These new products will enable us to further excite and service our dealers and customers for the next twenty years,” Essig concluded.