General Motors Creates Opel Financial Services For European Customers, Dealers

Remember when GM announced the acquisition of Ally Financial’s European and Latin American operations in April? Well, the $1.7 billion purchase is beginning to bear fruit for The General’s European customers, as Opel and Vauxhall customers in several Western European countries have been able to access more attractive financing options for their vehicle purchases for the past couple of weeks.

The broader access to financing offerings and more attractive purchasing options is thanks to the creation of Opel Financial Services — a new European captive finance brand under the direction of the now-familiar GM Financial.

“For us as dealers, this is a real advantage in terms of competitiveness”, said Chairman of the European Opel Dealer Association (Euroda) Jaap Timmer. We now have the opportunity to even better tailor our financial offers to our customers’ needs and maintain close customer interaction throughout the entire ownership experience.”

“On an industry average, around 50 per cent of retail customers finance their cars through manufacturers’ house banks”, he added. “The close relationship between manufacturers and their financing houses allows for even more attractive joint offers at the point of purchase – ones in which the dealer, manufacturer and bank can collectively develop strong incentives.”

Currently, Opel Financial Services is available in Germany, the U.K., Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, and Opel Financial Services networks will be added in other European countries later.

With the acquisition of Ally Financial’s European and Latin American operations (and once all approvals from the appropriate authorities are received), GM Financial will be able to serve customers and dealers in markets that account for roughly 80 percent of GM sales worldwide through brands such as Opel, Vauxhall, Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac.