Dealers, customers stand to win as lenders battle for market share Growing competition is forcing many auto lenders to grant easier access to auto loans, especially in subprime, and that's good news for dealers and their customers. That' ... Read More »
Fla. dealers soon to track service contract refunds A new state law in Florida makes dealers responsible in certain circumstances for maintaining records proving that customers who were supposed to receive a refund on a ca ... Read More »
Ally's auto business may get a boost from mortgage unit Chapter 11 bankruptcy It should be good news for Chrysler Group and GM dealers in the United States if Ally Financial can divorce itself once and for all from its troubled ResCap mortgage subs ...
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS F&I WEEK
F&I advice from a veteran: Be brilliant in the basics Never skip a menu. Use the products that you sell. Pay service writers for referrals. Stay involved in the showroom. Read, read, read. These are some of the practices fol ...
Q&A
U.S. CEO: Volvo's new captive is big deal Volvo Cars of North America is launching a captive this summer. CEO John Maloney calls Volvo Cars Financial Services "the biggest and most important thing we will do this ...
Subprime lender SAFCo expands Subprime auto lender Southern Auto Finance is poised to expand. The company said it will enter Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, with plans to expand into as many as ...
How one California dealer made subprime a priority Galpin Motors Inc. is aggressively pursuing the subprime market. On June 1 the dealership plans to launch a used-vehicle department focused solely on selling to customers ...
At GM Financial, leasing is off to slow start GM dealers waiting for leasing to take off will need to wait a little longer. GM Financial has said growth in leasing is a priority and last week reiterated that goal. Ho ...
Q&A
Capital One hunts new-car loans via dealers Nissan dealer Greg Brown's first loyalty is to Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. But he says Capital One provides great support to his two greater Los Angeles dealerships. Br ...
LoJack strives to win space on F&I menus After years of competing with independent insurance agents for access to dealership F&I departments -- not always successfully -- LoJack has decided if you can't lick the ...
Ally Auto's Garroni kicks off F&I Week session on dealers' best F&I practices Ally Auto's Gabe Garroni, who helps create income-developing services for new-car dealers, will lead a signature session as part of Automotive News F&I Week next month. ...
Ally's financial woes fester after bailout Pressure is increasing on Ally Financial and its government overseers to find a solution to its festering financial problems that date back before its government bailout ...
Public retailers' F&I revenues rise; service contracts still the workhorse The six large public new-car retailers saw higher F&I revenues in the first quarter than they did a year earlier. And for all the dealership groups, F&I revenues were a m ...
Q&A
Why Sonic puts a priority on service contracts When it comes to F&I products, it's tough to beat service contracts for value -- both for dealerships and their customers, says Richard O'Connor, vice president in charge ...
Ally: Chrysler pact's end won't affect dealers Chrysler Group dealerships likely won't feel any immediate impact from Chrysler's decision not to renew its subvented lending contract with Ally Financial next year, and ...
DealerTrack's Papageorge to lead F&I Week session on lending DealerTrack’s Strati Papageorge will kick off the second webinar during Automotive News F&I Week next month. Papageorge will lead a session called “Show Me th ...
COMMENT: DAVE GUILFORD
Why does it take so long to close a deal? In the space of about six weeks this winter, my wife and I bought two new cars. The reason for this splurge was exactly what industry watchers have predicted: Old, wheezi ...
Nissan plans F&I deals to launch new Altima Nissan plans to use F&I incentives to push the redesigned 2013 Nissan Altima when it goes on sale in June. The automaker will offer discount financing on lease and loan d ...
Q&A
F&I spiffs are 'huge step' Ohio dealer Mike D'Amato says he's fired up about the redesigned 2013 Nissan Altima. That's because the sedan, set to launch in late June, will come out of the gate with ...
Big banks seek to build on auto loan gains Some of the biggest banks in auto lending continue to aggressively pursue retail loan business after first-quarter surges. Wells Fargo Dealer Services, for example, repor ...
COMMENT: DAVID ROBERTSON
Why dealer reserve is just part of the deal A fair and accurate discussion about dealer reserve must hinge on the tasks and expenses underlying the installment lending process, not the specific benefits of in-store ...
How a dealership group overhauled F&I Looking for solutions to your F&I challenges? Your peers might have answers that will work for you. Mike Hanks, general manager of Bob Hall's Automotive Group in Yakima, ...
VW Credit to expand operations in Chicago area, hire 150 people Volkswagen's financing arm, VW Credit, is expanding its offices in suburban Chicago to meet what the company describes as an “upsurge in growth in recent years.R ...
How an F&I manager uses jar of scrap to pitch wheel-and-tire plans Keep your eyes on the nuts and bolts if you want to boost sales of wheel-and-tire protection plans. That's what F&I manager Chris Brunner of Curry Honda in Chicopee, Mass ...
AutoTrader, DealerTrack partner to place indirect loans online AutoTrader.com and DealerTrack have formed a partnership to try and get dealerships more online finance deals. “There's a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction out t ...
BMW Financial taps app in lending turn BMW Financial Services, in a twist for a captive lender, is offering a $300 voucher toward the purchase of a 2012 BMW 3 series to customers who arrange a test drive throu ...
Reynolds' Vanover brings rich career to F&I Week Julie Vanover, a former F&I manager who now consults with more than 100 dealerships a year on F&I and related issues for Reynolds and Reynolds, will be a lead speaker dur ...
Q&A
Why NADA chief offers his own leases Most dealers offer customers lease deals from captive finance companies. But NADA Chairman Bill Underriner goes a step further. Along with captives' deals, he offers cust ...
Ally hiking underwriter staff to service dealers As auto lending comes back along with U.S. auto sales, Ally Financial, whose biggest automotive customers are General Motors and Chrysler, is hiring. Its U.S. customers a ...
Leasing buoys Hyundai's chart-topping loyalty The Hyundai brand is taking advantage of higher residual values to step on the gas in leasing. In turn, leasing is helping Hyundai build loyalty that ranks among the best ...
Fidelis co-owner pleads guilty to stealing, fraud One of the two brothers who owned and operated U.S. Fidelis, a direct marketer that sold automotive extended-service contracts directly to consumers, pleaded guilty last ...
F&I Week to feature George Angus on managing F&I careers F&I trainer George Angus will be among the featured speakers during Automotive News F&I Week, a three-day online conference to be held in June. ...
Car loans top consumers' payment lists Consumers juggling debt are making their car payments even if they're skipping mortgage or credit card payments, recent data show. ...
Q&A
Shunning 20-minute decisions in a 20-second world Regions Financial, the biggest bank in Alabama, is still working to regain dealers' indirect loan business after pulling out of the segment for two years during the reces ...
Making dollars and sense to cash buyers Some finance managers wince inwardly when buyers of a new or late-model used vehicle say they'll be writing a check for their purchase. It's generally tougher to sell fin ...
How to play it smart on smart key coverage Key-replacement coverage could be on its way to unlocking more profits for dealerships. Consumer interest in the coverage is growing as more vehicles get programmable sma ...
Captive lenders foster dealer, brand loyalty Customers who get financing from a captive finance company are more likely to be loyal to a brand and to a particular dealer, Experian Automotive says. “One of the ...
Bundling, dealer reserve may draw whistles on regulatory gridiron Some items related to auto lending could come under scrutiny by government regulators, speakers at the Consumer Bankers Association convention in Texas said last week. An ...
How to win over F&I managers: Bankers weigh in Dealers and bankers can be cynical about their relationships -- dealers gripe that banks bail out of auto lending when the going gets tough; banks complain dealers casual ...
U.S. suggests Ally breakup, wants GM to buy captive finance unit The United States Treasury, which put $17.2 billion into a bailout of Ally Financial, has indicated it would prefer a breakup and sale of the lender -- including selling ...
Why you shouldn't backdate a sales contract When a California appeals court handed down a July 2010 ruling that held San Diego dealership Pearson Ford liable for backdating sales contracts, it grabbed the attention ...
Want to make a bundle? Try bundling Providers of aftermarket products increasingly are bundling their offerings -- especially for second-tier products such as tire-and-wheel and paintless dent repair -- in ...
Q&A
How a Honda dealership excels at selling service contracts Honda North of Danvers, Mass., claims a sales penetration rate for extended-service contracts of more than 50 percent. That's well above an industry average of around 30 ...
Dealers spur Toyota wear-and-tear plan Toyota and Lexus dealers asked Toyota to come up with its own lease-protection product and they got it, a Toyota Financial Services executive says. ...
Subprime lender Exeter eyes 50 states in 2012 Subprime auto lender Exeter Finance expects to be buying loans in all 50 states by year end, its chief executive says, up from only 13 states about a year ago. ...
BMW Financial adds BMW-brand lease protection BMW Financial Services this month added excess wear-and-tear coverage for lease customers to its arsenal of BMW-branded F&I products. ...
Taking the angst out of the F&I process Shortly after joining Byers Ford in Columbus, Ohio, as general manager about two years ago, Chuck Greene became frustrated by the delay between when a customer agreed to ...
Sales of tire-wheel plans balloon Sales of tire-and-wheel protection policies are ballooning. Ray Ciccolo, president of Village Automotive Group in Boston, says sales of the products at his group's 10 sto ...
5 ways to outsmart customers' smartphones Finance Director Megan Jacoby's job starts when her customers pull out their smartphones. While she's explaining a menu of finance and insurance products to customers, so ...
Why the subprime pool is growing … Subprime loans are easier to get and cheaper, too, as competition among lenders heats up. That's encouraging news for dealerships, since the subprime sector had been rebo ...
… and how it's helping Chrysler Chrysler Group's U.S. sales are surging in part because of subprime growth, Chrysler's dealer council chief says. “Our biggest market share gains are from those wit ...
Dealers cry foul as U.S. regulations create more F&I paperwork, costs Deal jackets are getting fatter all the time. In the past decade, government regulators have come up with dozens of new rules and have updated existing ones. The pace of ...
Why e-deals are replacing paper -- and why not Andrea Forteleoni, finance director at Bill Seidle Nissan in Miami, can tick off several reasons why he likes paperless sales contracts. But he cuts quickly to the bottom ...
Leasing boom? Not so fast Dealers looking for a big increase in leasing this year may be disappointed. Some forecasters see a leasing boom this year and beyond. And one even suggested leases will ...
Why bankrupt consumers make good prospects It may sound counterintuitive, but customers fresh from bankruptcy or whose cars are being repossessed can be highly desirable customers for lenders and dealers, say two ...
Q&A
Job 1 for GSFSGroup: Be known nationally GSFSGroup, the former Gulf States Financial Services, is about to shift into high gear in its drive to expand nationwide. The company, which administers and sells F&I pro ...
GM partners with Wells Fargo to finance sales, dealers in western U.S. GM is teaming up with Wells Fargo to provide financing to Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers and retail customers in the western United States. The region include ...
Chrysler courting bids for $25B finance business in possible blow to Ally Wells Fargo and Santander Holdings USA have joined banks vying to oust Ally Financial as Chrysler Group's preferred auto lender, according to three people with knowledge ...
4 reasons why F&I will fly in 2012 The large public retailers saw a banner F&I year in 2011 and say they expect no letup this year. In separate conference calls this month, dealership group executives cite ...
Q&A
How AutoNation posted record F&I revenue AutoNation boosted average F&I revenue per vehicle last year to a record $1,201, up about 5 percent from 2010. Michael Maroone, COO at the nation's largest retailer, says ...
Service contracts for cars with 125,000 miles? It's happening As new-car dealers sell more high-mileage used cars, some extended-service contract administrators are creating high-mileage contracts to match. At the tail end of last y ...
Auto-loan rates fall to 4-year low as fewer borrowers fall behind Lenders are charging U.S. car buyers the lowest interest rates in at least four years as fewer borrowers fall behind on their payments, supporting demand for new vehicles ...
Gen Y preferences could reshape dealerships' loan practices Car buyers, especially younger ones, are more often applying for auto loans on the Internet, rather than at the dealership. And younger consumers are insisting on more tr ...
Q&A
Chase is committed to auto lending, not share Chase Auto Finance is as committed as ever to auto lending, but it won't hunt market share, CEO Marc Sheinbaum says. It also won't chase leasing, he says. Sheinbaum spoke ...
3 tips for selling service plans in the service drive Selling extended-service contracts in the service department can be tough. But dealerships can get better results if they do three things, say executives Bob Hymen and To ...