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  • 2010/07/22
  • 3 min
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GAC-Sofinco Auto Finance Co. Ltd, the new Chinese subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, finances its first car loan

GAC-Sofinco Auto Finance Co. Ltd is the newly formed 50/50 joint venture between Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd (GAC) and Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance. It offers financing solutions to the customers and dealers of GAC-related automobile brands in China.

The new company was inaugurated on 13 July in the presence of Mr. Wu Yimin, the executive vice mayor of Guangzhou, Mr. Liu Fushou, the chief of CBRC Guangdong branch, Mr. Xu Nuojin, the vice president of PBOC Guangzhou branch, Mr. Zhou Jianjun, the director of Guangzhou Financial Services Office, Mr. Zhang Fangyou, the chairman of GAC, and Mr. Philippe Dumont, the chief executive officer of Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance.

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd (GAC), a Guangzhou-based publicly traded company, is China’s sixth-largest carmaker. China became the world’s leading automobile market in 2009.

Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance operates in 19 European countries as well as in China, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Since 1988, when it set up its first subsidiary in Morocco, Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance has expanded rapidly internationally, increasing its outstanding loans outside France six-fold over the five years from 2004 to 2009. At end-2009, two-thirds of the outstanding consumer loans managed by Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance were generated by international activities.

Outstanding consumer credit in China amounted to 128 billion euros at end-2009, a sharp 59 per cent increase over 2008, making it Asia’s second market behind Japan.

Commenting, Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance CEO Philippe Dumont said, “This move into China gives us a presence in 22 countries and shows that Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, already European leader in consumer credit, is determined to step up its international expansion”.

Alain Breuils, Deputy CEO for International Activities at Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, commented, “We have great hopes for this new automobile financing business in a country with so much potential for development. New car registrations rose more than 50 per cent in 2009, and consumer credit per capita is a mere 95 euros, nearly sixty times lower than in neighbouring Japan”.

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