John Huetter

Automotive F&I personnel often are confused on what constitutes more than $10,000 in cash and must be reported to the government, according to Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals Executive Director Shannon Robertson.

Indirect auto lending giant expects inventory shortages to persist in 2022 and sees another strong year of auto loan applications received and amounts borrowed, CFO Jenn LaClair said.

Asbury Automotive Group said it also expected to close on Arapahoe Hyundai and Genesis of Arapahoe in Centennial, Colo., on Tuesday and would soon close on another dealership group producing $740 million worth of annual revenue.

Ally said the move brings it further into the credit card market.

The bank has launched the service in 13 states, with plans to add dealerships in three others early next year.

Westlake Financial will consider credit information from more than a dozen countries when evaluating new U.S. immigrants for auto loans, according to its partner in this venture, Nova Credit.

Performing a soft pull on a customer's credit at the start of the buying process can improve sales and reduce awkward conversations in the F&I office, according to 700Credit.

Fifth Third Bank has raised the amount they'll fund in GAP coverage on financed vehicles, describing it as a response to demand, rising prices and national competitors.

The low-margin preventive maintenance contract is "your most underutilized product in F&I," according to Dan Mason, Principal Warranty Corp. executive vice president. It's a "magic bullet" that offsets the cost of buying all other F&I products for the customer, he said.

The retailer anticipates offering in-house finance and insurance products from new subsidiary Total Care Auto within three years.

There's something about presenting metrics firsthand weekly in front of the owner "really hits home where you're at."

Upstart on Wednesday announced the launch of Upstart Auto Retail, an omnichannel dealership tool derived from the Prodigy platform and featuring immediate artificial intelligence approval of auto loans. Upstart said it was introducing the AI-evaluated auto loans to a limited pool of dealerships and expanding it to all users in early 2022.

Asbury Automotive anticipates offering in-house finance and insurance products from new subsidiary Total Care Auto within three years, CEO David Hult said.