Opel finance arm unveils its plans to aid manufacturer return to profitability

15 February 2018

Opel Vauxhall Finance (OVF), the automotive finance organisation of PSA Group owned Opel and Vauxhall, has announced a plan to achieve sustainable and profitable growth until 2020, in line with the manufacturer’s PACE! plan.

Following the finalisation of the acquisition of Opel and its British arm Vauxhall in August 2017, PSA Group started investigating how to turn the brand’s fortunes around and return it to profit after years of loss-making under its General Motors ownership. This culminated in the PACE! turnaround plan, launched last November.

The captive finance organisation, trading under local brands such as Opel Bank, Opel Financial Services and Vauxhall Finance, will focus on launching new competitive automotive finance solutions across Europe as well as expanding into new customer segments and markets. OVF will improve operational efficiency and strengthen the collaboration framework with Opel/Vauxhall to increase the volume of financed/leased vehicles while at the same time raising retail margins across Europe. The aim is to finance every third Opel vehicle by 2020, a 50% increase compared to 2017.

To foster growth in the financially attractive commercial vehicle business, OVF will offer full-service leasing for fleet customers in Germany in 2018 through Opel Bank. Other markets, such as the UK, France, Italy and Austria, will also benefit from competitive business-to-business finance solutions.

Opel has the clear goal to increase its light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales by 25% by 2020 against 2017, and attractive finance products for commercial customers are key to accomplishing this target. Mobility packages that combine leasing, insurance and service products are additional strategic growth elements for OVF. These will help to increase customer loyalty for both the finance company and the automotive brand. While these product bundles are already available in some countries, the objective is to launch them in all OVF markets, boosting Opel and Vauxhall sales through joint marketing campaigns.

As well as broadening the product portfolio in existing markets, OVF also plans to enter new markets. One example is Spain, one of fastest growing automotive markets in Europe with more than 1,200,000 new car registrations in 2017. In the long term, Opel Vauxhall Finance plans to expand its geographical footprint to 90 percent of Opel/Vauxhall’s European markets.

In total, 150 employees from different functions and countries were involved in the design of the plan. They will be the ones to drive the plan and deliver on its objectives.

′Our plan provides a clear roadmap to increase efficiency and to contribute to Opel/Vauxhall performance across all channels’, said Alexandre Sorel, CEO of Opel Vauxhall Finance. ′Our agile and ambitious team is fully committed to meeting the mobility needs of its customers across Europe while sustaining and developing the Opel and Vauxhall brands through competitive automotive finance solutions.’

′Having a strong and customer-oriented captive organisation like Opel Vauxhall Finance is an important element for our sustainable future. The initiatives presented today will be a valuable performance booster for our brands,’ added Michael Lohscheller, CEO of Opel.

Photograph courtesy of Opel