Trends in the markets for financial services

We assume that automotive financial services will prove highly important to global vehicle sales in 2024. The continuing shortages of intermediates and commodities may generate uncertainty, exacerbated by the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the confrontations in the Middle East. Furthermore, the increased interest rates could put pressure on the demand for financial services. We expect demand to rise in emerging markets where market penetration has so far been low. Regions with established automotive financial services markets will probably see a continuation of the trend towards achieving mobility at the lowest possible total cost. The shift from financing to lease contracts that has begun in the European financial services business with individual customers will continue. Integrated end-to-end solutions, which include mobility-related service modules such as insurance and innovative packages of services, are likely to become increasingly important. Additionally, we expect that demand will increase for new forms of mobility, such as rental and car subscription services, and for integrated mobility services, for example parking, refueling and charging. We anticipate an increase in the importance of direct business between manufacturers and customers. The seamless integration of financial services into the online vehicle offering will become increasingly important in the promotion of this type of business. We estimate that this trend will also persist in the years 2025 to 2028.

In the mid-sized and heavy commercial vehicles category, we are seeing rising demand for financial services products in the emerging markets. In these countries in particular, financing solutions support vehicle sales and are thus an essential component of the sales process. In the developed markets, we expect to see increased demand for telematics services and services aimed at reducing total cost of ownership in 2024. This trend is also expected to persist in the period 2025 to 2028.