Hyundai, Santander Consumer Finance to offer auto financing and leasing services

It was good news for British consumers looking to land a new car as Hyundai Capital and Europe’s Santander Consumer Finance announced a joint venture that will provide auto financing and leasing services for Britons.

Both Hyundai and Santander Consumer Finance have a 50% stake in the 36 billion won ($31.3 million) joint venture.

This is particularly good news for the Korean finance company since it will become the financing provider to Hyundai and Kia dealerships all across the United Kingdom.

This will actually mark the first time that a Korean consumer finance company has provided services to the people of Britain.

Lee Yong-wook, a spokesman for Hyundai Capital, said that while Korean financial institutions have had dealings in the overseas market in the past, the work that they did was very much limited to Korean businesses in the worldwide marketplace.

He went on to say that he believed that the formation of the Hyundai Capital U.K. joint venture was a significant step in ensuring that British consumers get access to both auto and corporate financing.

Santander Consumer Finance is affiliated with Banco Santander, a Spanish financial institution. They operate in 17 different countries worldwide and service more than 15 million customers.

The majority of the services that they offer are retail financing, which of course includes auto financing. They already have a history with Hyundai Capital, having already entered into another joint venture with them in 2009 when they formed Hyundai Capital Germany.

The feeling in industry circles is that this most recent joint venture will create synergy for both Hyundai Capital and the Hyundai Motor Group. The latter runs Hyundai and Kia Motors and is currently the 4th largest automaker in England in regards sales.

Hyundai and Kia combined for 117,664 units sold last year, putting them behind Ford, GM and Volkswagen. The feeling is that the formation of Hyundai Capital U.K. will go a long way towards bolstering those numbers in the coming years.

Scott Wightman, the British ambassador to Korea, said that he was delighted that the Korean company had joined forces with one of Europe’s leading banks, and was even happier that they chose the U.K. as their headquarters.

He went on to say that he believed that the £20 million investment is further evidence that the UK is becoming the go to choice for Korean companies looking to invest in Europe.