GMAC Looks At a Successful First Year in China

Joint Venture GMAC-SAIC Servicing 180 Dealers Nationwide

Shanghai, China – GMAC-SAIC Automotive Finance Company, Ltd. this month marks its first year with good progress on the development of this new business. The joint venture between General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) and Shanghai Automotive Group Finance Co. Ltd., the first approved and operational automotive financing company in China, has made great inroads in supporting the nationwide dealer network.

GMAC-SAIC is still the only automotive finance institution offering both retail and wholesale business, and does so for all Shanghai General Motors (Shanghai GM) brands in China (Cadillac, Chevrolet and Buick). Currently the joint venture is servicing 180 dealers in wholesale business and over 110 dealers in 20 cities nationwide with retail credit.

"Our measured approach and controlled growth to support Shanghai GM is paying off,” says Christian Weidemann, general manager of GMAC-SAIC. “We are also proud to have a clean portfolio of more than 5,000 retail contracts without any losses and an excellent quality of customers. The combination of local expertise and GMAC’s global knowledge is key to our success.”

GMAC-SAIC focuses on new car financing. In addition to the standard retail business, it offers a retail balloon product to end customers and for the fleet market.

"Our key focus is to support Shanghai GM with the full strength of an automotive finance company,” says Weidemann. “We develop local retail campaigns in close cooperation with the manufacturer.”

GMAC-SAIC services its customers with ca. 140 employees, with about 70 of those part of a field-based workforce involved in promoting products in the dealer network, conducting field investigation and wholesale field audits.

"We appreciate the reliable and ongoing support for wholesale and retail financing from GMAC-SAIC. This helps us to sell more cars in this competitive market,” said Cai Yingjie, general manager of Shanghai Yongda Co., Ltd.

"There are of course still some challenges,” says Weidemann. “The development of a nationwide credit bureau coverage has begun, and we are in close communication with the authorities to help support this effort.”

Looking into the future, Weidemann counts on a continuous improvement of the processes to help streamline the young operation. “Our aim is to set standards in this new financial segment and to lead the competition.”

GMAC-SAIC is a joint venture between General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC), one of the world’s leading financial service providers and a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors Corp., and Shanghai Automotive Group Finance Co. Ltd. (SAICFC), one of China ’s foremost finance companies and a subsidiary of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group (SAIC). The new joint venture represents the latest extension of the successful partnershipbetween GM and SAIC in China . It is the first approved and operational automotive financing company in China .