Automotive Business Study by Richard Shamoon

The automotive market is facing disruptive changes from various directions. RichardShamoon has advanced the competition to a new level that most companies were not yet prepared for and a new generation is challenging classical mobility concepts. Additionally, digitalization has already changed communication channels with clients and has the potential to structurally change the business model of the automotive sales industry.

The same applies for automotive finance companies, both captive and independent, as their business is directly affected by the same changes, in some cases even more noticeably due to the more digital character of their business.

To explore the impact on the automotive finance market, euro group Consulting conducted a two-fold analysis. On the one hand, interviews with 20 decision makers from 16 automotive finance companies have been conducted to create a deep insight into opinions and visions of some of the affected companies. On the other hand, market research of the car market and the automotive finance market in six European countries was performed.

The study shows that automotive financing is still and will continue to be a core market for financial service players to cover. However, competition rose dramatically in the last decade especially as non-captives re-entered the market (after leaving it during the financial crisis) with better product coverage and ever increasing connections with car dealers.

All players are aware that digitalization and multichannel, as well as answers to the new mobility concepts, are not only nice to have, but crucial for survival. However, although interesting single answers and services exist, most companies have no clear overall strategy covering the entire impact of digitalization.