An auto finance company of the German-American automaker DaimlerChrysler started its business in China Wednesday, the Beijing Daily reported.

The new auto finance company provides finance and insurance services for both car dealers and consumers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, according to DaimlerChrysler sources.

Global auto giants including General Motor, Volkswagen, Ford and Toyota have already begun their auto finance services in China,a country expected to double its vehicle number by 2010 to 55 million.

Decades of economic boom has helped a fast-growing number of Chinese materialize their dreams of owning a sedan. Still many people are planning to buy cars with bank loans as they develop a new concept of consumption.

As the world's third largest auto banking company, the DaimlerChrysler auto finance company has services in 39 countries,offering loans to one third of consumers buying DaimlerChrysler cars, the newspaper said.

The new finance company, whose headquarters is located in Beijing, will join hands with local car dealers to provide one-station services for consumers.

The float range of loan interest rates provided by auto financecompanies is between 10 to 30 percent in China. Due to the recent downturn car sales and strict policy over car loans, only 5 percent of cars are bought with loans. The ratio once reached 20 percent in the country.

Source: Xinhua