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As the world's largest company dedicated to automotive financing, Ford Credit is helping more than eight million customers afford the vehicle of their dreams.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, Ford Credit offers financial services to dealers and
automotive retail customers in 33 countries, with two more countries to be added in 1997. It provided financing for nearly 3.8 million new and used vehicles around the globe in 1996 alone.
Assets of more than $126 billion in its worldwide managed operations make Ford Credit the largest captive automotive finance company in the world. The company provides automotive financing through 11,400 Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Ford Truck and affiliated dealers. Its diverse workforce of 15,300 employees is based at 271 locations worldwide.
Ford Credit's products and services include retail financing for new, used and lease vehicles, and wholesale financing, mortgages and capital loans for dealers. Its insurance operations offer automotive-related insurance products and services to dealers and retail customers, including wholesale inventory insurance, extended service contracts, and credit life and disability insurance.
The company's Commercial Lending activity finances car and light truck fleets, as well as medium and heavy trucks. Commercial Lending has eight U.S. branches dedicated to commercial customers.
"High customer satisfaction with Ford Credit's services benefits both Ford Credit and Ford Motor Company," says Ford Credit Chairman Ken Whipple. "Research shows that Ford Credit customers are one-third more likely to replace a Ford car or truck with another Ford vehicle than buyers who finance elsewhere."
In addition, Ford Credit's North American Financing Operations ranked highest in retail leasing and inventory financing in the J. D. Power and Associates 1996 Dealer Financing Satisfaction Study, and highest in initial satisfaction with automotive loans in J. D. Power and Associates' first consumer financing survey.
The company serves dealers and customers outside the Ford franchise system through PRIMUS Automotive Financial Services, Inc., providing private label financing for Mazda, Jaguar and other manufacturers' dealers and customers in the United States and Canada. There also are operations under the PRIMUS name in the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Indonesia, and plans are in place to launch PRIMUS operations in other international markets.
Growth is a central theme for Ford Credit as the company continues to lay the groundwork for future
opportunities in markets around the world. It opened an Asia-Pacific headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, to oversee regional operations including a new joint venture company in South Korea and new operations in Thailand. Through a representative office in Beijing, the company is exploring business opportunities in China.
In Central and Eastern Europe, Ford Credit has established offices in Hungary and the Czech Republic, with business start-up planned for summer 1997. The company also plans to expand its existing operations in Poland to provide retail financing for consumers.
In 1996, Ford Credit assumed management responsibility for Ford's financing affiliates in Brazil and Argentina, which previously had been part of an automotive joint venture between Ford and Volkswagen.
Ford Credit also is finding growth opportunities in established markets. In the United States, the company is entering the non-prime financing business as a way to bring new customers into the Ford family of vehicle owners and to support Ford and its affiliated dealers. Fairlane Credit LLC is based in Colorado Springs, and will commence initial operations in the Colorado market by mid-summer 1997.
Ford Credit is one of the world's largest issuers of corporate debt securities. Its global funding activities include the sale of commercial paper, placement of underwritten debt offerings in the U. S. and foreign markets, and the sale of continuously offered medium-term notes.
The company is headquartered in Dearborn, Mich., and is part of Ford's Financial Services Group (FSG). Ken Whipple, Ford Credit's chairman, also is president of FSG. Edsel B. Ford II serves as president and chief operating officer.
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