Finance and Insurance
ONWARD ONLINE
After decades of store confinement, the F&I office is inching digital 12:00 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 22, 2015
Lou Bregou, a director of operations at Driver's Village in Cicero, N.Y., says he has embraced putting financing tools on the dealership group's e-commerce website. Why not? The features that enable online car shoppers to get firm financing quotes, monthly payment calculations and trade-in values are helping the 16-dealership, 20-franchise group sell vehicles.... Read More »
Big banks slow auto lending 11:00 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2015
Wells Fargo and Chase, two of the biggest banks in auto lending, posted increases in consumer auto originations in 2014 but at a slower rate of growth than in 2013.... Read More »
Auto finance, sales look strong for 2015 11:00 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2015
The good outweighs the bad in the outlook for auto finance. For dealers, the high points are that U.S. light-vehicle sales are expected to keep on growing in 2015, for the sixth consecutive year, reaching as high as 17 million units, analysts say. In addition, lenders are competing harder and in greater numbers for loans originated at dealerships, according to speakers at an auto finance conference Tuesday.... Read More »
Strong job market defangs default threat 11:00 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2015
There’s a simple economic reason not to worry about auto-loan delinquencies, says Tom Webb, Manheim’s chief economist.... Read More »
Nicolosi returns to Volvo Financial with broader duties 9:00 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2015
Tony Nicolosi has been named president of Volvo Cars Financial Services of the Americas, 16 months after he became CEO of Volvo Cars of North America. The move is part of a management shakeup at the struggling brand, which also includes global corporate product strategy chief Lex Kerssemakers being named to the post of CEO for North America.... Read More »
Loan terms will grow, making price increases more affordable, FCA's Bigland says 12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2015
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' head of US and Canadian sales says loose credit terms will continue to drive new vehicle sales, even as pent-up demand dwindles in a recovered economy.... Read More »
Welcome growth for GM Financial 12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 19, 2015
General Motors' move to steer all subvented leases for Cadillac and Buick-GMC through GM Financial as part of the captive's ongoing buildup was welcome news for dealers, Cadillac dealer Howard Drake says.... Read More »
2015 AUTOMOTIVE NEWS WORLD CONGRESS
FCA's Bigland says loan terms will grow, making price increases more affordable 6:10 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2015
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' head of US and Canadian sales says loose credit terms will continue to drive new vehicle sales, even as pent-up demand dwindles in a recovered economy.... Read More »
Q&A
Larry H. Miller Group takes its F&I products nationwide 11:45 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2015
Auto retailer Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. is expanding its proprietary F&I products to dealerships nationwide. The company has begun selling such products as extended service contracts, GAP, identify theft protection, anti-theft etching, prepaid maintenance and more to nongroup stores through its captive finance administrator.... Read More »
Dealers applaud GM Financial's ongoing buildup to full captive 11:45 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2015
General Motors' move to steer all Cadillac and GMC/Buick lease incentive money to GM Financial as part of the captive's ongoing buildup was welcome news for dealers, dealers say. The absence of a true captive finance company has been a competitive handicap for GM dealers, especially in leasing.... Read More »
Sales and leasing forecast to grow more slowly in 2015 11:00 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2015
Sales will keep growing in 2015 on favorable economic conditions. But automakers also will boost incentives and turn slightly more to leasing.... Read More »
JIM HENRY
Lending practices face new scrutiny: States 11:30 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2015
State officials aren't far behind the federal government in the present crackdown on auto lenders, especially in the subprime segment.... Read More »
Sloppiness with sensitive info can be costly 12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 12, 2015
Experts say many dealerships do not do enough to protect customer paperwork in the showroom or to secure their data management system from infiltration. To prove this, many consultants, and dealers themselves, do secret showroom walkthroughs looking for violations. In many cases, they find sensitive paperwork left out in plain sight. That's a big no-no.... Read More »
GM to use GM Financial for subsidized leases, drop Ally, U.S. Bank 3:19 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 9, 2015
General Motors plans to make GM Financial its preferred lender for subsidized leases, a big step toward elevating its in-house lending arm into a full-line captive finance provider to enhance GM dealers' ability to sell vehicles.... Read More »
More thin files? Technology can help 11:45 am U.S. ET | Jan. 7, 2015
Dealerships and auto lenders are encountering an increase in “thin files” -- loan applicants who don't have enough credit history to generate a credit score using traditional methods, experts said in a series of interviews and presentations.... Read More »
Ally sells last of its overseas operations to GM Financial 11:30 am U.S. ET | Jan. 7, 2015
Ally Financial has stripped down to its core businesses: U.S. auto finance, F&I products such as extended service contracts, commercial loans to dealers, and online retail banking. The company jettisoned the last of its noncore operations when it completed the sale of its auto financing joint-venture unit in China to General Motors' captive finance company, GM Financial, for $1 billion.... Read More »
Q&A
EFG executive Stephens looks into his 2015 crystal ball 11:30 am U.S. ET | Jan. 7, 2015
Fixed dealership compensation for arranging auto loans likely will gain traction in 2015, predicts John Stephens, senior vice president of dealer services at EFG Cos., a major F&I administrator.... Read More »
Ally completes $1 billion sale in Chinese joint venture to GM 10:29 am U.S. ET | Jan. 5, 2015
Ally Financial said today that it completed the sale of its stake in a joint venture with a Chinese auto lender to General Motors for $1 billion.... Read More »
Appearance products fight to stay on menu 12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 30, 2014
Shorter F&I product menus are crowding all but a few top sellers right off the menu, which can leave vehicle appearance products, such as exterior finish and fabric protection, fighting for a spot.... Read More »
CarMax extends yearlong subprime test 10:30 am U.S. ET | Dec. 30, 2014
Used-car giant CarMax says it needs more time to evaluate a subprime lending pilot program at its finance arm. CarMax CFO Tom Reedy said the test will continue at least long enough to capture results from shoppers purchasing vehicles with their income-tax refunds in 2015.... Read More »
JIM HENRY
Wishing auto lenders a happy, rational new year 10:30 am U.S. ET | Dec. 30, 2014
Auto lenders are about to embark on another year of worry that the other guy will go “irrational” and start making money-losing loans to gain U.S. market share. They fret they'll be forced to decide whether to give up share or follow suit, sparking losses.... Read More »
Pay plans, GM and regulation were hot topics in 2014 10:15 am U.S. ET | Dec. 30, 2014
Information about everyday dealership operations was the biggest draw this year for readers of Automotive News' weekly F&I Report. Five of the 10 best-read stories dealt with day-to-day business, including the top two items: The story behind a list of dealership slang and how to outsmart the fake pay stub.... Read More »
5 F&I trends to watch in 2015 10:45 am U.S. ET | Dec. 30, 2014
From political pushback on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to shorter F&I transaction times and growing oversight by captives, a look at key F&I trends on the horizon in the new year.... Read More »
Group pushes states on F&I product rules 12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 30, 2014
Worry that federal regulators' crackdown on dealer markup might spill over into F&I products is revving an industry trade group's efforts to get state-by-state legal definitions for those products, and rules for how they're sold, on the books.... Read More »
Ally sale leaves U.S. taxpayers with $9.3 billion loss on auto rescues 9:24 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 29, 2014
American taxpayers lost $9.3 billion on the government's bailout of auto companies following the Treasury Department's sale of its remaining stake in Ally Financial. The Treasury took in $70.4 billion from the rescue of GM, Chrysler, Ally and others after spending nearly $80 billion in taxpayer funds, data released Monday show.... Read More »
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