Auto market crash causes first decline in Porsche Leasing's business

Porsche Leasing, a captive company of auto importer Porsche, and one of the largest players on the market, ended last year with goods funded worth 308 million euros, down 7.5% against the preceding year, due to the crash of the auto market in the last few months of 2008. This is the first decline in the company’s business, after in the past Porsche Leasing reported rises for several years in a row, due to the boom in car sales. “Given that our business is 100% connected to the auto market, the decrease recorded in this sector led to a decline in our sector, as well,” said Kurt Leitner, general manager of Porsche Finance Group, which, apart from the leasing company, also includes a bank, an operational leasing company, an insurance company and an insurance broker. In 2008, vehicle sales on the Romanian market went down 12%, to around 324,000 units. Sales of Romanian cars saw the biggest decline, by 26%, to 82,000 units. The structure of Porsche Leasing’s portfolio remained similar last year to the 2007 one, with 92% of the funding granted for the acquisition of cars, while 8% went to small commercial utility vehicles.