Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Saab's contract hire business is closed
Saab dealers have been dealt another blow as the brand’s contract hire business has been closed.
Masterlease, which runs Saab Contract Hire, has also stopped underwriting any fleet contracts for Saab vehicles.
There are currently no alternatives, but Saab said it is talking to “various funding partners about contract hire, both private label and general”.
It added that GM UK stands behind any warranties on Saab products.
One long-standing Saab dealer said there was “nowhere to go at the moment”.
While contract hire was popular, it was difficult to gauge the impact of its withdrawal as Saab had received a lot of bad press which was generally affecting sales, he said.
Another dealer who said contract hire accounted for around 30% of business last year, was switching as many customers as possible to PCP.
He did not expect a replacement partner for Saab contract hire to be found in “the near future”.
DATED: 07.04.09
FEED: AM
Masterlease, which runs Saab Contract Hire, has also stopped underwriting any fleet contracts for Saab vehicles.
There are currently no alternatives, but Saab said it is talking to “various funding partners about contract hire, both private label and general”.
It added that GM UK stands behind any warranties on Saab products.
One long-standing Saab dealer said there was “nowhere to go at the moment”.
While contract hire was popular, it was difficult to gauge the impact of its withdrawal as Saab had received a lot of bad press which was generally affecting sales, he said.
Another dealer who said contract hire accounted for around 30% of business last year, was switching as many customers as possible to PCP.
He did not expect a replacement partner for Saab contract hire to be found in “the near future”.
DATED: 07.04.09
FEED: AM
