WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — Marking the company's entry into the direct-to-consumer lending business, BMW Group Financial Services today officially launched up2drive.com, an automotive financing Website that features convenient loan services designed to take the consumer through every step of the car buying and selling process.

The launch of up2drive.com and the entry into the direct-to-consumer lending sales channel are part of BMW Group Financial Services' strategy to expand its core business beyond the traditional role of a captive finance company in order to reach more consumers.

"With our new online venture, we can now offer to all automotive finance customers — regardless of the type of car they're looking to buy or sell — the same BMW best-in-class customer service and financing options previously offered only to BMW owners. Online automotive financing is a large and growing market and our core competencies make the direct sales channel a logical evolution for our business," said Shaun Bugbee, president of up2drive.com. "By giving car buyers more control of their automotive financing options, up2drive will alleviate some of the stress of purchasing and financing a car and will help get people behind the wheel more easily than before."

Potential buyers can apply and be approved for a loan easily and use up2drive.com's new unique loan service — the up2drive drive check — to negotiate with sellers as if they had cash on hand. Enabling auto seekers to determine not only what kind of car they want to buy, but also how much they want to pay and, ultimately, what their monthly payments will be, up2drive.com puts consumers in the driver's seat, giving them complete control of their car-buying decisions.

A Better Way to Sell Your Vehicle

In addition to up2drive.com's innovative loan service, the site also offers a variety of tools designed to vastly simplify the vehicle selling process. Using up2drive.com's up2drive Payment Estimator, customers can calculate an estimated monthly payment for their vehicle. Customers simply enter the year, make and model of a vehicle to determine an appropriate vehicle sale price, which they can then show potential buyers as a financed monthly payment.

"Consumers are becoming more educated about auto finance options, so we're excited to be able to offer them innovative selling options they can't find anywhere else," Bugbee continued. "For the first time, private individuals can represent the selling price of their vehicle as a financed monthly payment — similar to the way dealers advertise their vehicles. Most auto finance companies focus exclusively on the buyer but disregard the seller. With more than six million individuals seeking to sell vehicles privately, up2drive.com's patent-pending approach of targeting both buyers and sellers has the potential to impact the automobile sales cycle."

Once the seller has determined an appropriate sale price, up2drive.com will allow them to create — free of charge — an "up-4-sale" sign, which the seller may save, print and post inside a vehicle or in any automotive classified Websites or print publications — a convenient way to expedite the process for the seller. By advertising the vehicle's sale price as a monthly payment, the buyer can easily understand how purchasing a vehicle with financing fits within their monthly budget.

A potential buyer who views the "up-4-sale" sign can input a vehicle ID (found on the sign) and visit the up2drive.com Website to apply for immediate financing to buy the vehicle. By offering a one-stop shop for meeting a variety of automotive financing needs, up2drive.com makes automotive financing convenient, efficient and affordable.

Backed by award-winning service and time-saving tools — as well as a customer service staff dedicated to ensuring customer satisfaction — up2drive.com allows customers to manage accounts, make payments, view statements and conduct every step of their automotive financing online — saving them valuable time and money.