Santander names Jotanovic president of Chrysler Capital

Betty Jotanovic has been named president of Chrysler Capital and auto relationships for finance provider Santander Consumer USA Inc.

Jotanovic will assume the role in March. She succeeds Bruce Jackson, 55, who was named head of Santander's U.S. Auto business and CEO of Santander Consumer in December.

Jotanovic, 50, is head of originations for Santander Auto and Chrysler Capital's credit, funding and dealer management activities. She joined the company in 2018 and previously held senior leadership roles at Bank of America, GE Capital and Chrysler Financial.

Santander Consumer is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA and had an average managed asset portfolio of more than $65 billion in the third quarter of 2022, when JD Power named it the fourth-largest retail auto lender by market share. It is part of publicly held global banking group Banco Santander S.A. of Madrid.

Since 2013, Stellantis has relied on Santander Consumer USA to oversee its captive finance company Chrysler Capital in a private-label partnership.

However, in 2021 Stellantis bought First Investors Financial Services Group and converted it into an in-house captive — Stellantis Financial Services. About have begun using the in-house lender, Stellantis North America COO Mark Stewart said in December.

But Chrysler Capital continues to operate, and Stellantis and Santander in April 2022 agreed to extend their contract's end date from 2023 to 2025.

"Santander Consumer has been a strong partner for Stellantis for many years," Stellantis Chief Affiliates Officer Philippe de Rovira said in April 2022. "We are proud to have SC continue as a preferred partner as we grow Stellantis Financial Services US into a full-service captive lender offering a wide range of financing options to meet the needs of our customers."