Nissan Finance (GB) will be headed up by former BMW Finance managing director Bill Honeyball, who said he was looking forward to the challenge of setting up the new operation from scratch.

Nissan is the third manufacturer to take direct control of its finance operation in the last year - following Volvo and BMW/Rover - and will be developing a range of new products for both retail and fleet financing. The new venture will create around 100 new jobs at Nissan headquarters in Rickmansworth.