Toyota putting wheels in motion to open own bank
Andrzej Ostrowski, former vice president at Ford Bank Polska, left the bank in August to work for Toyota here. "I just moved and that's it," said Ostrowski, who would only add that he would not reveal the details behind his move until "sometime in October."
But both Ostrowski's new and old bosses said that Toyota was in the early stages of setting up its own bank. And car banking players believe Ostrowski will manage the creation of it.
"Every company wants a financial arm, so do we," said Jan Okulicz, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Poland.
Toyota is at a "very early stage" in creating its own bank, agreed Olaf Neitzsch, president of Ford Bank Polska and Ostrowski's old boss.
Ostrowski started with Ford as a zone manager in March 1993 and from the outset worked with dealers on financial issues. He was the main person behind Ford Credit Poland, the leasing unit of Ford that was created before Neitzsch set up Ford Bank, said Wojciech Drzewiecki, head of automotive research firm Samar and a former Ford employee.
"In principle Andrzej (Ostrowski) organized everything," he said, adding that Toyota offered Ostrowski better conditions and a new challenge.
Ostrowski, however, is not known to all car-bank players. "I don't know him at all," said Aleksander Lang, credit manager with Opel Bank. "But I assume he is very experienced, otherwise Toyota wouldn't have selected him."
Toyota would not comment last week on whether it had yet applied to the National Bank of Poland (NBP) for a banking license, which is required of any financial institution that wants to set up shop.
Renata Wisniewska, a spokeswoman for the NBP, said the central bank would not say whether a company had applied for a license. But sources close to Toyota said that the application had been made and that the firm expected to start offering credits by mid next year.
Toyota - the largest Japanese car company and the world's third biggest auto producer - is the eighth-largest car company in Poland in terms of sales. But in 1998 the company has grown significantly.
Toyota's sales more than doubled this year to 10,162 passenger cars by the end of July, compared with 4,778 last year, according to figures from automotive research firm Samar. This rate of growth far outpaced the Poland-wide 10% sales growth forecast for the auto market in 1998.
If it does set up a bank, Toyota will join a growing number of auto makers who have established their own financial arm here. The purpose of these banks is to boost car sales by providing customers with financing options and to increase profit for car companies that operate with tight margins, said Drzewiecki of Samar research firm.
"In the end, you have more customers and another product; not only cars that could be profitable," he added.
Ford Bank Polska and Opel Bank opened their doors last year, while Fiat Bank Polska and Volkswagen Bank Polska started operations this year. In addition, Daewoo has said for the past two years that it planned to buy a bank here, although this has yet to happen.
Around the world, car companies have found that financial activities can contribute greatly to the bottom line. At Ford Motor, for example, retail financing and other financial operations accounted for nearly 20% of its total worldwide sales of $153.6 billion in 1997. In terms of net profit, the contribution of financial operations was even higher and reached 32% of Ford's net profit of $6.9 billion last year.
Drzewiecki said that any car company looking to play a significant role in the car market here will either set up its own bank or establish close cooperation with an exiting bank. This latter route was chosen by Renault, which works with Kredyt Bank PBI.
This has made Kredyt Bank the only bank on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) to derive a significant portion of its revenue from auto-related activities, said Jakub Papierski, a banking analyst with Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. About 40% of Kredyt's total credits are related to auto financing, according to figures from the bank. (See WBJ, Sept. 14-20, 1998).
Papierski added that overall banking for auto products is an attractive activity. "This (car loans) is good credit," he said. "The security is very good, the market is attractive."
But both Ostrowski's new and old bosses said that Toyota was in the early stages of setting up its own bank. And car banking players believe Ostrowski will manage the creation of it.
"Every company wants a financial arm, so do we," said Jan Okulicz, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Poland.
Toyota is at a "very early stage" in creating its own bank, agreed Olaf Neitzsch, president of Ford Bank Polska and Ostrowski's old boss.
Ostrowski started with Ford as a zone manager in March 1993 and from the outset worked with dealers on financial issues. He was the main person behind Ford Credit Poland, the leasing unit of Ford that was created before Neitzsch set up Ford Bank, said Wojciech Drzewiecki, head of automotive research firm Samar and a former Ford employee.
"In principle Andrzej (Ostrowski) organized everything," he said, adding that Toyota offered Ostrowski better conditions and a new challenge.
Ostrowski, however, is not known to all car-bank players. "I don't know him at all," said Aleksander Lang, credit manager with Opel Bank. "But I assume he is very experienced, otherwise Toyota wouldn't have selected him."
Toyota would not comment last week on whether it had yet applied to the National Bank of Poland (NBP) for a banking license, which is required of any financial institution that wants to set up shop.
Renata Wisniewska, a spokeswoman for the NBP, said the central bank would not say whether a company had applied for a license. But sources close to Toyota said that the application had been made and that the firm expected to start offering credits by mid next year.
Toyota - the largest Japanese car company and the world's third biggest auto producer - is the eighth-largest car company in Poland in terms of sales. But in 1998 the company has grown significantly.
Toyota's sales more than doubled this year to 10,162 passenger cars by the end of July, compared with 4,778 last year, according to figures from automotive research firm Samar. This rate of growth far outpaced the Poland-wide 10% sales growth forecast for the auto market in 1998.
If it does set up a bank, Toyota will join a growing number of auto makers who have established their own financial arm here. The purpose of these banks is to boost car sales by providing customers with financing options and to increase profit for car companies that operate with tight margins, said Drzewiecki of Samar research firm.
"In the end, you have more customers and another product; not only cars that could be profitable," he added.
Ford Bank Polska and Opel Bank opened their doors last year, while Fiat Bank Polska and Volkswagen Bank Polska started operations this year. In addition, Daewoo has said for the past two years that it planned to buy a bank here, although this has yet to happen.
Around the world, car companies have found that financial activities can contribute greatly to the bottom line. At Ford Motor, for example, retail financing and other financial operations accounted for nearly 20% of its total worldwide sales of $153.6 billion in 1997. In terms of net profit, the contribution of financial operations was even higher and reached 32% of Ford's net profit of $6.9 billion last year.
Drzewiecki said that any car company looking to play a significant role in the car market here will either set up its own bank or establish close cooperation with an exiting bank. This latter route was chosen by Renault, which works with Kredyt Bank PBI.
This has made Kredyt Bank the only bank on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) to derive a significant portion of its revenue from auto-related activities, said Jakub Papierski, a banking analyst with Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. About 40% of Kredyt's total credits are related to auto financing, according to figures from the bank. (See WBJ, Sept. 14-20, 1998).
Papierski added that overall banking for auto products is an attractive activity. "This (car loans) is good credit," he said. "The security is very good, the market is attractive."
