AU$18 million or about US$18.1 million at the current exchange rates. That’s how many Australian dollars some 226 plus Aussies owe BMW’s unimaginatively named financial arm "BMW Finance". The Bavarian automotive giant is now perusing bankruptcy proceedings against these persons in Australia’s Federal Magistrates’ Court in an effort to recoup the debt from hundreds of unpaid car loans.
It’s all rather depressing, really, especially in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis. Take one man who bought an AU$80,000 Lexus on credit shortly before he lost his AU$110,000 job. Or the woman who signed her name on a car loan for her and her husband, only to have him leave her and get stuck with the debt. "They repossessed the car, but they still want [AU]$25,000. I don't know what to do,” said the 34 year-old.