Daimler to offer vehicle leases in China

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has allowed the financial arm of Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz car unit to offer vehicle leases in Beijing, China, starting March. The German company said it would initially offer the new financing option to corporate customers such as hotels and will expand to other cities and private customers by the end of 2009. In related news, the company’s Indian unit, Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd., formally inaugurated in February its new €50 million (US$64.97 million) factory in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, which is set to manufacture cars and trucks. The factory can produce 5,000 passenger cars and 1,200 commercial vehicles in one shift. (February 24/27, 2009)