(L-R) Bertrand Gousset and David Miller signing the joint venture agreement.

JCB has entered into a new joint venture partnership with BNP Paribas Lease Group to provide retail and wholesale financing solutions to European markets.

David Miller, JCB's managing director for financial solutions, says the construction equipment manufacturer wants to boost customer support as it continues to grow rapidly.

"We also want to improve the financing support available to JCB dealers," he adds.
"The creation of our new JCB Finance joint venture in Europe is an important milestone, enabling us to meet these aims in a number of key markets for JCB products."

Besides providing flexible facilities to support dealer inventory and demonstration equipment requirements, JCB expects the new joint venture to create new sales opportunities for JCB machines in Europe through its BNP Paribas range of leasing and retail finance programmes.

In 1994, JCB and BNP Paribas created their first joint venture to finance JCB's French sales. Since then, the partnership has grown in Europe and recently in India and North America.

The joint venture, 50.1% of which is held by BNP Paribas and 49.9% by JCB, will initially offer retail financing solutions for new and used JCB machines in France, Spain, Italy and Germany, with additional services and coverage planned for the future.

Bertrand Gousset, BNP Paribas's managing director of equipment and logistics solutions for international business, says the new partnership affirms the long-standing relationship between the two companies.

"Accompanying JCB in its development initiatives is a challenge we are happy to take up. Together, we will build new financing solutions that will allow us to create and shape the future of this high-growth sector," Gousset says.

JCB sold over 72,000 machines in 2007, a 30% sales increase over the previous year. It manufactures 290 different machines including Loadall telescopic handlers and the Teletruk forklift for the industrial sector.

BNP Paribas Lease Group is a BNP Paribas subsidiary specialising in equipment leasing and rental solutions. It operates in 18 countries and claims to be a market leader in Europe.