Daimler, Porsche Dismiss Report of Talks Over Stake

February 12th, 2010

June 20 (Bloomberg) — Daimler AG and Porsche SE dismissed a report about potential talks over a Daimler investment in Porsche as “speculation.”

“It’s speculation, which we don’t comment on,” Albrecht Bamler, a spokesman for Porsche in Stuttgart, Germany, said in a telephone interview. Daimler spokesman Thomas Froehlich said the report was “pure speculation.”

Manager Magazin, citing unidentified people in the financial industry, reported in an article on its Web site yesterday that the two Stuttgart-based carmakers had been in talks at the end of last month to discuss possible options. The options may include Daimler buying shares in Porsche or receiving options for shares in Volkswagen AG, in which Porsche holds a majority stake, the magazine said.

Porsche, which has said it’s in exclusive talks with Qatar about selling a stake to the Persian Gulf state, tripled its debt to 9 billion euros ($12.6 billion) after the company raised its stake in Volkswagen AG, Europe’s biggest carmaker, to 50.8 percent at the start of this year.

The maker of the 911 sports car, which is pursuing a merger with Volkswagen, is also in talks with Germany’s state-owned development bank KfW Group about receiving a 1.75 billion-euro loan.

Daimler, the world’s second-largest maker of luxury cars, raised 1.95 billion euros by selling new shares to Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJSC. The 9.1 percent stake was sold 55 percent below the stock’s value in June 2008, when Daimler announced plans to buy back its own shares.

The maker of Mercedes-Benz, which competes with Volkswagen’s Audi unit, plans to cut 4 billion euros in spending this year as it reacts to the worst auto-industry crisis in decades. Deliveries of Mercedes-Benz cars have fallen 22 percent in the first five months of 2009, which Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said on March 25 will be a “Darwin year” for the auto industry.

Daimler is also the world’s largest truck maker, while Volkswagen controls Swedish competitor Scania AB and owns 29.9 percent of German heavy commercial-vehicle maker MAN AG.

By Chris Reiter

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Car Finance After the GFC

February 12th, 2010

We have now made it through the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) and car finance lenders have started loosing their purse strings. This means that finance car loan in getting easier but it is still proving to be a challenge in some cases. So where can one finance a car loan these days?

Car finance is an excellent way to get your hands on a car without having to save the entire cost to purchase a car. When it comes to financing a car there are always options like secured car loans and unsecured car loans. Whether to include a balloon at the end of the loan term and how much deposit you can afford. Usually you need to consider all of these finance options before seeing your bank or finance broker.

With a finance broker like natloans you will be able to make the right decisions based on free professional advice from one of our loan consultants.

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How to Choose the Best Car Finance Lease

February 11th, 2010

When it comes to choosing an automotive financing option for your business, it can seem like a daunting task. There are a large variety of options that you can choose from which can cause confusion. Which option is the best for you? Do the options have any hidden clauses that could cause me difficulty? For example, some of the options require you maintain a shared ownership of your new fleet vehicles until you have paid off the loan in full.

If you want to avoid such unfavorable terms and conditions and just have a straightforward financing option without the headaches (and who honestly wants to have to deal with additional headaches?) you may want to think about going for a standard Car Finance Lease. Instead of first buying the vehicle and then having to pay it off before you fully own it, your financing agreement will be a lease which will make sure that your vehicle will be maintained in proper working order throughout the lease term.

How Does a Finance Lease Work?

Fundamentally, a finance lease is just a rental agreement between you and the lease provider. The lease provider will keep ownership of the vehicle while the lease is in force. However, unlike a conventional lease agreement, the payments that you make on the vehicle will be put towards an agreed-upon price. This means that you will purchase the vehicle in full once the lease is paid off. The advantage for you is that since the lease provider is the owner of the vehicle and not you, the company that provides the lease will have the responsibility of making sure that the vehicle is in good working order. If the vehicle becomes faulty or cannot be used as intended, then the lease company should in most cases transfer your lease to a similar but working vehicle. Please make sure you check the terms and conditions of your lease from your intended lease provider to make sure this is the case.

What Do I Need To Do To Be Eligible For a Finance Lease?

The main condition of finance lease arrangements, as with many other forms of business fleet financing, is that you use the vehicle primarily if not exclusively for business purposes. Depending on the finance lease provider, they will have different minimum business usage requirements. However, if you are looking for a general rule of thumb, you want to ensure that the vehicle will be used at least 50-60% of the time for business. A finance lease is applicable for most types of businesses and some lease providers may also permit individuals who have an automotive allowance from their employer to take out a lease as well.

Finance Lease Options

If you go down the path of taking out a finance lease, there are a few things to consider. These include:

- Over how long do you wish to pay the lease?

- How much will be paid at the end of the lease? (ie: How much is the residual amount?)

- Payment options Some lease providers may also have an option of an extended lease. With this option, as new vehicles become available, you can trade in your old vehicle for a new one on which you continue to pay the lease for a longer term. Also, provided that you meet business usage requirements, there may be some tax deductions that you can take advantage of.

Take The Time To Do Your Research And Find The Best Lease

Each finance lease provider will offer you a different interest rate and financing terms. So take the time to do your research and compare the various options to make sure you get the lease that best meets the needs of your business. Contact a variety of finance companies and lease providers and speak to them, make sure you let them know that you want to a quote for a business lease rather than a personal lease. Also negotiate, it never hurts to ask. After all, you are giving them your business so makes sure they earn it. Things to compare include: interest rates, estimated payment amounts, how long the lease will be for and how much will need to be paid at the end of the lease term. By looking at these different aspects and comparing your options accordingly, you are in a much better position to obtain the best lease agreement for your business.

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