MARAC Finance Limited today announced that it has entered an exclusive marketing partnership arrangement with ACP Media’s Autotrader to provide finance and insurance products on the Autotrader.co.nz website.
Under the new brands “i-finance” and “i-insurance”, the partnership leverages the skills and experience of two market leaders in the motor vehicle sector for the benefit of dealers and consumers.
Autotrader’s internet customers and motor vehicle dealers will be offered fully-integrated on-line finance and insurance under the partnership. The new products are expected to be available to dealers and customers by the end of September 2006.
Features include a more efficient and effective pre-approval process that will enable internet customers to transact both the purchase of the vehicle and the finance agreement at the dealership. It will also allow dealers to check customers’ pre-approval status online.
MARAC Finance Managing Director Brian Jolliffe said “this partnership is another significant offering to the motor vehicle dealers and consumers of New Zealand in a market that is changing rapidly. Consumers are changing their purchasing behaviour quickly and Autotrader and MARAC have responded to this change with a genuine on-line set of products to assist.”
ACP’s Digital Media Director, Lee Williams, commented that “Autotrader has been looking for a strategic partner that can add significant value to our business and our motor vehicle dealer clients (customers) by meeting the consumer requirements of genuine end to end on-line finance and insurance.
“With our dealer customers listing higher value motor vehicles for sale, a partner who specialises in that section of the market was a key requirement. Consumers should also feel confident choosing online products backed by MARAC – given its reputation for operating at the quality end of the market.”
MARAC Finance has been in the motor vehicle market for over 50 years and has established long-term relationships with the dealer community throughout the country and has developed high levels of expertise in this market.
Chris Flood, General Manager of Motor for MARAC and the new General Manager i-finance and i-insurance said that “MARAC has been working with its dealers for many months discussing the changes occurring in the industry. Delivering value for our dealers into the future is a key strategic objective we have and this partnership is a significant commitment by us to the industry.
MARAC has been concentrating its motor business at the higher quality end of the market, and we see this initiative as adding significant support to motor vehicle dealers operating in this sector of the market. The process used by i-finance and i-insurance to pre-approve customers will be the same as that employed by MARAC Finance.
The partnership between ACP’s Autotrader and MARAC combined with the overall quality of the motor vehicle dealers and the vehicles they advertise will ensure the customer receive the best deal possible.”
Ends
For more information please contact:
Chris Flood
General Manager Motor
MARAC Finance Ltd
Telephone 09 520 8084
Mobile 027 226 6508
Brian Jolliffe
Managing Director
Pyne Gould Corporation Ltd
Telephone 09 539 9702
Mobile 027 446 6066
ABOUT MARAC
MARAC has been offering finance and investment solutions to New Zealanders since 1953, formerly trading as Allied Finance. MARAC is primarily involved in the provision of commercial, property and motor vehicle financing in New Zealand. MARAC is wholly New Zealand owned by Pyne Gould Corporation. For further information, visit www.marac.co.nz
MARAC Finance has been in the motor vehicle market for over 50 years and has established long-term relationships with the dealer community throughout the country and has developed high levels of expertise in this market.
ABOUT AUTOTRADER
Autotrader.co.nz started as the internet extension of the Autotrader magazine (New Zealand’s premier weekly automotive magazine, an industry icon for the last 25 years) six years ago and is now a major force in its own right. The focus is firmly in the motor vehicle dealer to public market. With 66% of New Zealand’s dealer network online, 123,000 unique buyers view four million plus pages per month at autotrader.co.nz. The 36,000 vehicles listed have an average value of $20,000 and are clearly weighted toward the quality end of the vehicle market.
