Santander Consumer expects to hike e-vehicle financing by 50%

Madrid, June 3 (EFE).- Santander Group’s consumer financing unit, Santander Consumer Finance, expects to increase the volume of loans for electric vehicles by at least 50% during 2022 from 140,000 cars the previous year.

Santander Consumer Finance CEO José Luis de Mora said his unit has observed a change in trend towards sustainable mobility, so according to his estimates, if at present “only 10 or 15” out of every 100 financed cars are completely electric, in five years more than half will be.

De Mora explained in an interview with the Spanish news agency, Agencia EFE, that “for now the electric car is a little more expensive” and so they must design “more creative” solutions when it comes to financing.

Some of those solutions include “having long-term options to lower the monthly cost” or creating a “Netflix-type” concept through a monthly subscription.

“To the traditional model that is to buy and finance through a bank like us, other models are added such as leasing, where you have the car for three or four years and then you change. Other models emerge that give you greater flexibility. All these products have to be adapted to each one’s needs,” he said.

Santander Consumer Finance is to participate in the Global Mobility Call conference slated for June 14-16 at IFEMA Madrid from June 14 to 16 to “present proposals for an ecosystem” because. in their opinion, an important part of the industry is “creating a niche and finding the place to develop.”

The Santander Group plans to provide 120,000 million euros in green financing between 2019 and 2025 with the goal of increasing this figure to 220,000 million in 2030.

The consequences of the pandemic, the shortage of microchips since 2021, and the green transition proposed by the European Union Commission have accelerated a transition period in which the automotive market is changing “drastically.”

“We must bear in mind that Spain is the second largest car manufacturer in Europe, we need to continue being so in the new world of electric cars, we also have many start-ups in the world of sustainability,” said José Luis de Mora.

At the same time, the CEO of Santander Consumer Finance insists that the traditional attitude of customers towards ownership “is shifting” towards paying for the use of products and services “in a more sustainable way.”