Captive finance companies

JIM HENRY

'Last resort' means something good

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 15, 2013
In a recent blog, I referred to GM Financial as a “lender of last resort” for parent company General Motors. I meant simply that GM regards GM Financial as a lender GM can count on, no matter what.... Read More »

 

Ally clears barrier for IPO with plan to resolve mortgage claims

1:59 pm U.S. ET | May 14, 2013
Ally Financial moved closer to repaying its government bailout as the auto lender reached agreement with creditors of its bankrupt mortgage unit.... Read More »

 

FINANCE & INSURANCE Q&A: TOM DUNDON

Chrysler Group seeks an edge with Chrysler Capital

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
Chrysler Capital, the private-label arrangement between Santander Consumer USA and Chrysler Group, began operating in the United States May 1 as the preferred lender for Chrysler Group. Chrysler Capital will offer prime and subprime retail loans and leasing through Chrysler dealers, as well as floorplanning and construction loans to dealers.... Read More »

 

Opel will offer cheaper loans after taking finance in-house

May 6, 2013 14:33 CET
Opel expects to boost the proportion of cars sold on financing with the offer of cheaper loans and leasing deals now that it has taken its German banking license back in-house.... Read More »

 

JIM HENRY

GM, Chrysler take opposite tacks on captives

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 1, 2013
Does a car company need to own a captive finance company? While GM and Chrysler Group came off similar experiences of being partners with Ally Financial after their old captives went away during restructuring, they have reached different conclusions.... Read More »

 

GM Financial shifts emphasis to newer cars

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 29, 2013
General Motors Financial Co. wants to change its image among franchised dealers shopping for used vehicles at auctions. So next month the captive finance company will host a sale of about 200 2010-13 GM vehicles.... Read More »

 

How the Fed fueled an explosion in subprime auto loans

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 7, 2013
Jeffrey Nelson was able to put up a shotgun as down payment on a car. At car dealers across the United States, loans to subprime borrowers like him are surging. Subprime auto lenders are showing up in a lot of personal bankruptcy filings, too. The Federal Reserve has made it all possible.... Read More »

 

GM Financial completes $2.6B deal for Ally units in Europe, Latin America

11:14 am U.S. ET | April 2, 2013
Ally Financial said it completed the sale of most of its operations in Europe and Latin America to General Motors Financial for about $2.6 billion. Ally, in a statement today, said it will get about $2.4 billion at closing and about $190 million in dividends prior to closing from the GM unit.... Read More »

 

U.S. financial regulator warns auto lenders on markup discrimination

3:11 pm U.S. ET | March 21, 2013
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued a warning to auto lenders: Make sure dealer participation in interest rates does not lead to discrimination or face the consequences.... Read More »

 

Ally to sell remaining mortgage servicing rights to Quicken

12:21 pm U.S. ET | March 21, 2013
Ally Financial, the former GMAC lending unit that had its capital plan rejected last week by the Federal Reserve, agreed to sell its remaining agency mortgage servicing rights to Quicken Loans Inc. for about $280 million.... Read More »

 

Ally says Federal Reserve's stress test was 'fundamentally flawed'

9:39 am U.S. ET | March 8, 2013
Ally Financial, the auto lender majority-owned by the federal government, disputed results of the Federal Reserve's stress tests, calling the analysis "fundamentally flawed." "The analysis is inconsistent with historical experience in the most-stressed periods in our business,” the lender said in a statement on Thursday.... Read More »

 

PSA will offer retail banking to raise funds for dealers, auto ops

March 8, 2013 06:01 CET
PSA/Peugeot-Citroen will offer savings accounts through its financing arm to raise funding for dealerships and other automotive operations. PSA is following Renault in setting up a retail banking arm.... Read More »

 

Mobile apps are the new frontier of used-car sales

12:01 am U.S. ET | March 4, 2013
Captive finance companies, auto auctions, third-party Web sites and others unleashed a proliferation of mobile apps and products aimed at remarketers during the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Orlando last month.... Read More »

 

Ally says U.S. probing retail financing practices

6:52 pm U.S. ET | March 1, 2013
Ally Financial said in a securities filing that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recently told the U.S. auto lender that it is being investigated for certain "retail financing practices."... Read More »

 

Feds eye finance reserve

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 25, 2013
For more than two years, dealers have been bracing for possible actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, formed after the financial crisis of 2008. Now the federal agency has taken its first auto-related action.... Read More »

 

GM targets big growth in floorplanning

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 25, 2013
General Motors' finance arm has an ambitious goal: to provide floorplan financing to at least 20 percent of GM dealers, the unit's top executive said.... Read More »

 

Ally sees full U.S. repayment by 2014 on auto business gains

10:11 am U.S. ET | Feb. 11, 2013
Ally Financial, the second-largest remaining investment by the Treasury’s federal bailout fund, will repay the government by 2014 on the strength of its auto-finance business, its CEO said.... Read More »

 

LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE

Newborn Chrysler Capital shows up at NADA

3:42 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 9, 2013
There are lots of young companies on the expo floor at the NADA convention pushing this product or that service to help dealers. But as far as I can tell, there's only one so young that it ought to be wearing diapers.... Read More »

 

Ally claims top spot in consumer auto finance volume

12:41 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 8, 2013
Ally Financial retained its top spot in consumer auto finance volume in 2012 for the second year in a row, the company said today, citing data from Experian Automotive.... Read More »

 

VW's finance arm expands U.S. customer service center to push sales goal

3:34 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 6, 2013
Volkswagen expanded its U.S. auto-loan unit's central customer-service office to increase the work force 28 percent as part of a push to reach the top spot in global vehicle deliveries.... Read More »

 

Chrysler reaches deal making Santander preferred lender in U.S.

1:04 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 6, 2013
Chrysler Group agreed to make a U.S. unit of Banco Santander SA its preferred provider for auto loans, replacing Ally Financial. Chrysler and Santander Consumer USA will form Chrysler Capital to provide customers with financing to purchase and lease vehicles, the company said today in a statement. Chrysler Capital, which will begin operating May 1, will also provide dealers with wholesale loans that allow them to buy vehicles from the manufacturer.... Read More »

 

Ally posts Q4 profit as U.S. vehicle sales increase

11:41 am U.S. ET | Feb. 5, 2013
Ally Financial, the biggest auto lender in the United States, swung to a fourth-quarter profit as more consumers went shopping for cars and trucks... Read More »

 

Chrysler near a deal for preferred lender

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2013
Chrysler Group is close to signing a new preferred auto lender that promises to boost leasing for dealers. Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said the automaker is "in the final stretch" of negotiations with the financial services provider, which he did not name.... Read More »

 

Chrysler deal near with Santander on financing arm, report says

4:25 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 17, 2013
Chrysler Group is close to a deal with Spain's Banco Santander as an in-house financing arm to be called Chrysler Capital, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.... Read More »

 

PSA secures 5.3 billion euros to shore up bank arm

Jan. 14, 2013 11:04 CET
PSA said its banking unit completed about 5.3 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in loan agreements as part of a refinancing plan aimed at stemming a sales decline.... Read More »