Ford Credit

Thunderbird · 15-01-2009, 07:35 AM

.. In a move that has surprized many.. Ford Credit Australia today announced its closing up .. unable to weather the finance downturn in the car market within Australia..

...Sad move..

.. whats next...?? :yeees:

Lukeyson · 15-01-2009, 07:41 AM

its interesting actually, because 2 weeks ago i rung them up to pay my loan off 4 years early, and he was like 'fantastic, can you direct deposit it now?' , i was like, woah i can do it today yes.
Last time i did that about 4 years ago, i paid my ute i had then out early with them, and the guy on the phone was really trying to talk me out of it.
probably nothing .......
but i thought Ford credit was keeping Ford afloat that little bit more?

irlewy86 · 15-01-2009, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR8fella

its interesting actually, because 2 weeks ago i rung them up to pay my loan off 4 years early, and he was like 'fantastic, can you direct deposit it now?' , i was like, woah i can do it today yes.
Last time i did that about 4 years ago, i paid my ute i had then out early with them, and the guy on the phone was really trying to talk me out of it.
probably nothing .......
but i thought Ford credit was keeping Ford afloat that little bit more?

Might be a different story here in Australia. I thought the Government was backing car finace for $2 billion so they could keep their doors open.

FPV8U · 15-01-2009, 07:44 AM

Any Links?

Will this affect current customers?

dave289 · 15-01-2009, 08:18 AM

after leaving school many years ago I worked for city ford in their computer department and would install all the ford credit software onto the sales staff pc,s. I remember they use to charge 24% interest on car finance but that was in the late 80's early 90's.

b2tf · 15-01-2009, 08:19 AM

Mine has been changed over from Ford Credit to Toyota Credit by the dealer, which is good because I'm picking up the car tomorrow.

dave289 · 15-01-2009, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b2tf

Mine has been changed over from Ford Credit to Toyota Credit by the dealer, which is good because I'm picking up the car tomorrow.

why toyota b2?

good to see you finally decided on the fg xr8. nice choice.let us know when you have it, although I,m sure you will.

b2tf · 15-01-2009, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave289

why toyota b2?

good to see you finally decided on the fg xr8. nice choice.let us know when you have it, although I,m sure you will.

Toyota is the dealers other option. Be interested to see how the new ute goes if I ever get the f$%&$^king thing.

Elguapo · 15-01-2009, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPV8U

Any Links?

Will this affect current customers?

http://www.theage.com.au/national/fo...0114-7h14.html

Corzza · 15-01-2009, 08:24 AM

So what happens to exisiting customers?

Laminge · 15-01-2009, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thunderbird

.. In a move that has surprized many.. Ford Credit Australia today announced its closing up .. unable to weather the finance downturn in the car market within Australia..

...Sad move..

.. whats next...?? :yeees:

No Surprise at all taking into account others pulling out of the market and its not totally related to the Australian Market

MR_SIDO · 15-01-2009, 08:32 AM

Existing customers will continue to have support from Ford Credit. As of the 28th of Feb Ford Credit will no longer be taking retail applications. They will continue however to finance dealers. So they are not leaving Australia yet, Dealers will continue to have floorplan facilities.

Corzza · 15-01-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR_SIDO

Existing customers will continue to have support from Ford Credit. As of the 28th of Feb Ford Credit will no longer be taking retail applications. They will continue however to finance dealers. So they are not leaving Australia yet, Dealers will continue to have floorplan facilities.

Thats good to hear

rosco426 · 15-01-2009, 10:05 AM

Christ is this new news. I heard that they were closing down well before Christmas. If they ahven't gone public, wait for more to follow.

csv8 · 15-01-2009, 10:12 AM

Victoria's embattled car industry is facing further job losses as Ford has decided to stop providing finance for retail car sales.

- Ford dumps finance for retail sales
- Car industry in turmoil, job cuts loom
- Dealers must make alternative arrangements

Ford Credit Australia will no longer finance private car buyers from February 28, which gives dealers just six weeks to make alternative arrangements.

The decision will also affect Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar and Mazda dealerships, some of which use Ford Credit to finance retail sales.

About 160 staff employed by Ford Credit's retail finance department will lose their jobs — the majority from the company's head office in South Melbourne.

Just 40 staff, all from Ford Credit's wholesale finance department, will remain. Wholesale finance provides credit to dealers for the cars on their showroom floors — it is finance companies who really own the cars at a dealership.

Ford Credit's decision has major implications for jobs in the local car industry.

¦A banking source told The Age that the decision was a "precursor" to Ford Credit pulling out of wholesale finance in Australia. Ford dealers will be forced to close down if they cannot finance their floor stock.

¦Many dealers told The Age they were considering switching to rival Japanese and Korean manufacturers and would stop selling Fords.

¦Ford Credit finances 10 per cent of Ford's retail sales. Ford sold 107,800 cars last year.

¦Regional dealerships are dependent on Ford Credit for retail finance and do not have adequate sales to find alternative financiers.

The staff of Ford Credit and car dealers from across the country met at Melbourne Airport at lunchtime, where they were told the bad news.

"This was a difficult but necessary decision," said Libbey Meredith, a spokeswoman for Ford Motor Credit in Detroit.

The owner of one of Melbourne's largest Ford dealerships told The Age: "I'll be selling Mitsubishis and Toyotas by the end of the year, and I reckon about a third of Ford dealerships around the country are thinking the same thing. The company is falling into disarray, and customers just don't want the Ford product."

Marcus Norton, who bought the Ford dealership in Warrnambool just six weeks ago, said about a quarter of his retail sales were financed by Ford Credit.

"It's a shock, but we will just have to find another source of credit," he said. "I already have some irons in the fire. At least Ford are still backing the wholesale side for now."

The decision comes as the Australian car industry faces its worst sales performance in 30 years.

Last year marked a 14.5 per cent fall in annual sales by Australian car manufacturers, and Ford's local production was down 9000 cars on 2007.

As a result of flagging car sales and difficulty sourcing money due to the global financial crisis, the two biggest specialist car financing companies —

GMAC and GE Money — quit the Australian market at the end of last year.

The Federal Government last month unveiled a rescue plan for car dealerships, announcing a $2 billion trust to provide loans to struggling car dealers.

Announcing a Special Purpose Vehicle funding facility in December, Treasurer Wayne Swan said that both Ford US and Ford Australia had confirmed that Ford Credit would remain in Australia and continue to provide financing to its dealer network.

Less than a month later, Ford Credit has done a backflip on that decision.

Luke3000 · 15-01-2009, 10:24 AM

This is really bad for everyone. Do you think we will have a car industry soon. I want to go into engineering and car design and manufacture when i leave school, but at this rate you think is it really that stable...

baboon · 16-01-2009, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke3000

This is really bad for everyone. Do you think we will have a car industry soon. I want to go into engineering and car design and manufacture when i leave school, but at this rate you think is it really that stable...

Dude, in my opinion, if you really want to do engineering and car design I would go and do it regardless of economic environment. You gotta keep your brain active after school man and engineering is the best thing you could do.

By the time you graduate, someone would have bought these doomed car companies and turned them into efficient, profit making companies. There will be even better opportunities then. Imagine being part of a car company that turned from a failed one to a successfull one. In the mean time study hard man! Good luck to you.

MR_SIDO · 15-01-2009, 12:49 PM

The AGE article is very badly written. Go Auto will have an article coming on soon that will have more of a dealer perspective.

As a dealer myself, it was made quite clear that Ford Credit were supporting the dealers. Why would Ford Motor Company (who owns Ford Credit) pull out of financing dealers and destroying a large number of its distribution network?

At least for now the only impact on FORD Dealers is that we have to find an alternative to Ford Credit when a customer is looking to finance a vehicle.

Rodp · 15-01-2009, 03:21 PM

I think it's a little of the sky is falling here.

I was silly enough to finance with Ford Credit... TWICE! It would never have been a third time - the interest rates were never competitive but I just had to drive out in my new car as soon as possible.. :(

News of Ford Credit pulling out I'm sure will have other finance companies knocking on the door asking dealers to set up shop inhouse to provide consumer finance.

Smoke Pursuit · 15-01-2009, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodp

I think it's a little of the sky is falling here.

I was silly enough to finance with Ford Credit... TWICE! It would never have been a third time - the interest rates were never competitive but I just had to drive out in my new car as soon as possible.. :(

News of Ford Credit pulling out I'm sure will have other finance companies knocking on the door asking dealers to set up shop inhouse to provide consumer finance.

St George and Esanda are the only ones really doing it now.. and no they don't want anymore business as they are pretty full up with the whole GMAC / GE closure...

I think some dealers are going to struggle, in particular if they want to keep their floor plan with Ford Credit and try and get someone else in to do the finance...

MR_SIDO · 15-01-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfiipursuit

St George and Esanda are the only ones really doing it now.. and no they don't want anymore business as they are pretty full up with the whole GMAC / GE closure...

I think some dealers are going to struggle, in particular if they want to keep their floor plan with Ford Credit and try and get someone else in to do the finance...

They are only full up with wholesale floorplan, not retail contracts. What finance company is going to knock back a dealer doing retail finance contracts without having the risk of the dealers floorplan. They will be busting for the dealers business as it is very profitable for them.

EgoFG · 15-01-2009, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR_SIDO

They will be busting for the dealers business as it is very profitable for them.

It must not be too profitable, or Ford Credit would have stayed in there !

I really cannot see that this heralds any Doom and Gloom - I imagine it is Ford consolidating onto its most profitable ventures.

Redrum · 15-01-2009, 05:28 PM

This is not good news, and top this with more expected job losses from Ford in March. I have heard Ford will cut a further number from their production. Add to this the rumour that FPV assembly will be now done on the main line, it is all doom and gloom.

I am safe as my application has already been made and approved.

seduced_xr · 22-01-2009, 06:47 PM

this cant be good for ford. our lease car company is going under at the moment. they say they will honour all current leases but if they dont have the money that wont be possible. theyll get my xr over my dead body

Smoke Pursuit · 15-01-2009, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR_SIDO

They are only full up with wholesale floorplan, not retail contracts. What finance company is going to knock back a dealer doing retail finance contracts without having the risk of the dealers floorplan. They will be busting for the dealers business as it is very profitable for them.

They still have to process loans and complete credit transactions. I deal in equipment finance (leasing etc) and know what its like trying to get stuff pushed through Westpac and Esanda, with all the extra business coming on board already from GMAC / GE, things are busy in personal car finance!

Escort_RPDriver · 15-01-2009, 07:09 PM

This decision does not affect Ford Motor Company operations in Australia and it does not affect Ford Credit customers, who should continue to make their account payments in their usual manner. Ford Credit is continuing to support existing dealers’ wholesale financing arrangements and is studying the federal government’s funding vehicle, also for wholesale financing, that was announced last month.

taken from caravice.com.au

Iggypoppin' · 15-01-2009, 08:58 PM

is ford credit in anyway the same as esanda IE 19% and the like?? i am with esanda but only because i couldnt get approval anywhere else. paying off my loan has been my number one priority and now its nearly done im looking at the next one...and ford credit was an option...so just want to know whats involved? provided of course they will give credit until around may, when i plan to have paid out my loan.

cycle myth · 15-01-2009, 09:09 PM

This is truly sad.

Its another pillar of support that FORD have lost in efforts to bolster its business (albeit a rather under utilised one in the past).

Now Dealers will be at the mercy of the other finance companies, with no brand loyalty, and Ford have one less avenue to market and support sales.

sigh.........................

SSVPom · 15-01-2009, 09:12 PM

Ford Credit spent $200k on new commercial furniture with us 18 months ago (not including the actual fit out) of their St.Kilda Rd office... obviously in the long run that has not paid off !!

Iggypoppin' · 15-01-2009, 09:18 PM

how much furniture did they buy...that seems excessive!