Babcock, sole importer and distributor of DAF trucks in the southern African market, has announced that is has established a dedicated finance company, Babcock Financial Services, to provide finance for the purchase of DAF trucks with immediate effect.
Babcock Financial Services
Wilna Steyn, CEO of Babcock Africa’s Transport Solutions Division, made the announcement at a media gathering on October 10 at the company’s offices in Bedfordview, saying that this development had been long in the planning and that she believed the offer of financing would significantly boost sales of DAF trucks in the South African market.
“This development will give us the competitive advantage of a full product offering against certain brands in this market — and allow us to compete on the same level with others,” she said.
“When we took on the DAF brand four years ago, we became aware of the importance finance plays in extra heavy truck market. To address this issue, we initially entered into various joint ventures and partnerships with local banks to offer a solution to our customer base. However, these solutions did not fully meet all the requirements of our customers, who were really looking for an in-house finance solution. The establishment of Babcock Financial Services will now meet this need.”
Steyn added that, in addition to the recent renewal of Babcock’s DAF distribution contract for a further five years, this milestone development also demonstrated Babcock’s commitment to servicing and growing the DAF brand in this country.
Within a very short period of time, Babcock finance has already enjoyed a huge take-up from customers from all parts of South Africa and Steyn predicted that this would grow very rapidly over the next 12 months. Babcock Financial Services currently has sufficient finance to cover more than a year’s sales and this will be steadily increased.
Babcock Financial Service is an independent legal entity fully owned by Babcock Africa (Pty) Ltd and has been registered with all the legal authorities to trade as a finance provider of capital equipment. Babcock Financial Services sources its funding from Babcock Africa, as well from as the local market. Although administration function has been outsourced to a reputable third party service provider, credit decisions remain with the management of Babcock Financial Services.
The finance offering for the purchase of DAF trucks by qualified customers includes a wide range of structures to suit the customer’s business model. These include legal structures, payment-free periods, terms, interest rates, balloon payments / residual values and quick decisions for credit approvals. All trucks financed via Babcock Financial Services will be sold with a repair and maintenance contract from Babcock.
