BMW Financial Services increased its commercial portfolio by $729 million in 2012 , thereby increasing its overall commercial portfolio by 19% to $4.6 billion.
“With the recent rollout of our 75-day free flooring for off-lease cars, coinciding with anticipated increases in dealer pre-owned inventories, we foresee continued growth in 2013,” the company stated in a press release.
The Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based lender also enhanced loan processing through its e-contracting platform last year. The platform, which now includes 151 BMW dealerships, finalized 46,000 transactions and increased usage by 73%. The Mini brand will be added to the e-contracting mix this year.
BMWFS also enhanced its iPad system, which included a slate of new functionality and tools such as “Dealer Self Inspection.” Nearly 35,000 pre-inspections for customers were done using the tool at more than 200 dealerships.
Parent company BMW Group had a record-breaking 2012, selling 1.85 million units across its BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce brands, and the German automaker remains cautiously optimistic for 2013.
“We are aiming to achieve a further rise in unit sales in the current year, and hence a new sales volume record,” said Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the board of management, during the Annual Accounts press conference in Munich today.