NEWS: Ford set sights on finance sector

Ford is considering launching as a bank in the UK, renaming its Ford

Credit arm Ford Bank and moving beyond car loans into new financial

services areas.

The move will further blur the line between the traditional high street

banks and the new entrants to the financial sector, such as Tesco and

Virgin.

Other car manufacturers, including Volkswagen, are known to be

considering a similar move but Ford is the only motor company in the UK

registered with the Bank of England and able to take deposits from

customers.

A spokesman for Ford Credit said the direction of the finance division

was being considered by senior Ford managers in the US.

‘We will be taking the bank theme further. What we do at the moment is

all motor finance but I would anticipate that we will be branching out

with the portfolio we offer,’ said the spokesman. ‘The amount of

business we do is limited to the number of cars we sell each year, so it

makes sense to go beyond financing cars.’

Ford sold 411,000 cars last year, more than half of them through Ford

Credit finance deals, but the company sees stepping outside motor

finance, to offer products such as loans and insurance, as a way of

generating new revenue.

Ford Credit operates through 1000 Ford dealerships in the UK and already

advertises itself in motoring magazines as a ‘drive-in’ alternative to

the high street banks.

This article was first published on Marketing