Santander and BMW in High Court spat over motor finance dispute
Santander and Volvo are taking BMW to the High Court over a dispute related to motor finance deals, City AM can reveal.
The Spanish banking giant, along with Volvo Financial Services, is claiming the carmaker caused damages after auto dealers unlawfully re-sold the same luxury vehicles to BMW, leaving both firms claiming ownership over the same cars.
In court filings seen by City AM, BMW is accused of wrongfully taking the vehicles for its own use and improperly registering its own financial interests against them on credit databases. The manufacturers’ financial services arm is also said to have re-financed at least one of the disputed cars to its own customer despite allegedly knowing Santander and Volvo were the legal owners.
“At all material times, [BMW Financial Services] knew of [Santander and Volvo]’s title to and financial interest in the Vehicles,” court filings say.
BMW declined to comment. The firm has tapped UK law firm Lester Aldridge for the High Court showdown.
Bust dealership allegedly missold cars to BMW
The dispute stems from the collapse of two London car dealerships that went out of business in 2024. High Court filings allege that after Santander and Volvo purchased the vehicles from the dealerships between 2021 and 2023 to provide finance to retail customers, the dealerships unlawfully resold the same cars to BMW.
Santander and Volvo argue that because they bought the cars first, the dealerships had no legal ownership left to pass on to BMW. They also claim BMW blocked them from recovering their assets by registering its own financial stakes on credit databases like Experian and HP.
The firms are demanding some £160k to cover unpaid finance debts or up to £264k to match the original purchase price of the cars.
Santander and Volvo previously declined to comment on the case and did not respond to requests for comment regarding the Court filings.