Peugeot in car finance JV

Peugeot Citroen finance arm Banque PSA Finance plans to establish an automobile financing business with mainland joint venture Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen and Hong Kong-based Bank of China International, according to Chinese media reports. The Bank of China will hold a majority share of the venture, which will initially focus on wholesale financing. The proposed partnership would be the first non-bank auto financing business on the mainland and required to have registered assets of US$483 million by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). In November 2003, the CBRC approved Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors for mainland auto financing operations. Fewer than 20% of cars are sold with loans, compared to 70% in developed countries, according to official statistics.