All Blog Posts (586)

Is It Really That Bad?

A scan of headlines recapping August vehicle sales would have many believing that the auto industry is headed off a cliff.

Here’s a sampling:

• Auto Sales: Worst August Since 1983 (CNNMoney.com)
• Auto Sales Crash in August (The Tennessean)
• 21% Drop in August Auto Sales Spurs Talk of Stimulus (Detroit Free Press)
• Auto Sales Fall as Economy Struggles (The Associated Press)
• August Auto Sales Cool Without 'Cash for Clunkers' Incentives (The Detroit Ne… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on September 2, 2010 at 12:30pm — 8 Comments

TCN Releases SoftPhone: Complete Call Center Technology Now Available in Minutes

August 30, 2010 – St. George, UT:

TCN, Inc. today released next-generation call center technology: the TC

… Continue

Added by Nate on September 1, 2010 at 10:30am — No Comments

Submit Nominations for Auto Finance Excellence Awards

Nominations have opened for the 2010 Auto Finance Excellence Awards, which celebrate achievement in the auto lending and leasing arena.

These awards recognize executives or companies that have made the greatest contribution to the auto lending and leasing industry in the past year. The awards will be announced at the Auto Finance Summit 2010 in mid-October and in Auto Fina… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on August 30, 2010 at 2:30pm — No Comments

The Credit Union Auto-Buying Phenomenon

First Financial Credit Union is taking steps to keep members from being flipped for financing at the dealership.

As often happens with credit unions or other direct lenders, consumers arrange their own financing then are swayed at the dealership to use another lender — one arranged by the dealer.

At West Covina, Calif.-based First Financial, only 15% to 20% of members approved for auto loans ended up financing with the credit union. Now that ratio is up as high as 90%, sai… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on August 25, 2010 at 2:54pm — No Comments

Prime Acceptance Corp. Announces Partnership with NCCI

Salt Lake City, Utah-- Prime Acceptance Corp., an auto finance company, announced their alliance
with National Creditors Connection, Inc., a nationwide field service company based out of Lake Forest,
California.

“Prime Acceptance Corp. is a rapidly growing finance company faced with the challenges many creditors
have experienced during the economic turn-down,” said Kelly Boulton, Prime Acceptance Corp.’s
senior portfolio manager. “To counter such challenges we'v

… Continue

Added by NCCImarketing on August 24, 2010 at 3:33pm — No Comments

Mahindra Gears Up for U.S. Launch

Come December, Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. plans to have its pickup trucks on showroom floors in the U.S.

Last week Mahindra got the OK from the Environmental Protection Agency to sell its 2.2-liter, four-cylinder compact pickup truck in the U.S. The truck’s U.S. debut has been delayed since August 2009, when it failed to receive regulatory approval.

Mahindra plans to introduce its Scorpio utility vehicle in December 2011 and a new SUV with gas-electric h… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on August 24, 2010 at 12:38pm — 1 Comment

Honda Recalls Nearly 400,000 Cars

It seems like all the car manufacturers are trying to get their recalls out of the way this year, and Honda is no different. The company is set to recall about 383,000 vehicles due to a malfunctioning ignition system that causes the affected cars to roll away. Yikes! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, said it received several complaints that prompted the recall to take place.

Earlier in… Continue

Added by Auto Loan Guy on August 23, 2010 at 3:33pm — No Comments

Details Fuzzy on GM IPO

A year after emerging from bankruptcy, General Motors has registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell shares in an initial public offering. Yet the exact number of shares to be sold, pricing expectations, and timing for the IPO have not been disclosed.

Still, industry experts expect GM to raise between $12 billion and $16 billion as the Treasury Department — which owns 61% of the Detroit automaker — unloads about one fifth of its 304 million shares, ultimately cutti… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on August 18, 2010 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Carlyle Group Exec Akerson to Replace Whitacre Atop GM

Daniel Akerson will take over as chairman and chief executive of General Motors come Sept. 1, when Ed Whitacre steps down.

The news of Whitacre’s departure was made public this morning, when GM announced second-quarter earnings results — $1.3 billion of profit on $33.1 billion of sales.

Whitacre joined GM in December, replacing Fritz Henderson. Whitacre “simplified the organization, reshaped the company's vision, put the right people in place, and brought renewed energy an… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on August 12, 2010 at 12:13pm — No Comments

Unhappy Car Buyer Gets 110,000 Views on YouTube

I was browsing through the website of a prominent dealer-chasing law firm this morning (I know, I have weird hobbies), and came across a posting about a dealer with a link to a YouTube video. This dealership is part of a good-sized group that is very well-regarded in the area. As I am personally acquainted with this dealer group, I can attest to their integrity and dedication to customer satisfaction. So, when I clicked on the YouTube link, I expected to see another unconvincing customer with a… Continue

Added by Jim Radogna on August 10, 2010 at 7:42pm — 3 Comments

The Widening Gap

After plunging in July 2009, Porsche sales are on the upswing again.

Last month, car buyers bought 2,703 Porsches, a 75% year-over-year increase and Porsche’s best month in two years. Meanwhile, total U.S. light-vehicle sales rose only 5%, to 1.05 million units.

Here’s a chart tracking Porsche sales versus overall vehicle sales for the past five Julys:

… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on August 6, 2010 at 12:30pm — 1 Comment

USAA Aims to Revolutionize Auto Finance with New iPhone App

USAA, the financial services provider mainly to the US military community, today introduced an auto buying and selling iPhone app that could revolutionize auto finance.

The Auto Circle allows USAA members to not just finance a vehicle purchase via iPhone, but also to buy and insure a new vehicle -- through USAA.

It's the purchase of the car through the app that caught my eye. USAA actually facilitates the transaction through "certified USAA dealer

… Continue

Added by JJ Hornblass on August 4, 2010 at 2:30pm — 2 Comments

HSBC Sheds Auto Portfolio

Nearly two years after halting auto finance operations, HSBC Holdings has sold the last $2.9 billion of auto loans in its portfolio.

HSBC sold the portfolio, in run-off mode, to an undisclosed buyer for $2.7 billion. The London-based financial conglomerate had sold another $1 billion portfolio, plus servicing operations, to Santander Consumer USA last November.

Reduced exposure to auto losses contributed to the profit recorded by HSBC’s North American operations in the se… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on August 2, 2010 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

Your Customer’s Perception Is Reality

I get it. It’s tough out there. Customer access to information on the internet continues to squeeze margins. Dealerships are just trying to make a buck in a fiercely competitive marketplace. You have to do whatever it takes to stay ahead of the competition. I also get that some may view compliance as unnecessary, overrated, annoying, a waste of time and money, and downright harmful to profitability. These are perceptions and as they say, perception is reality. Some employees may be tempted to… Continue

Added by Jim Radogna on July 31, 2010 at 6:09pm — No Comments

New FCC Portal Makes Filing Telecom Complaints Easier

Creditors and collection agencies beware: The Federal Communications Commission is making it easier for consumers to complain.

Today, the government agency announced the launch of a new portal that will help consumers file comments and complaints to the FCC faster, among other functionality. Indeed, with the launch of the new portal -- dubbed the Consumer Help Center -- the "File a Consumer Complaint" t… Continue

Added by Mary Wisniewski on July 28, 2010 at 3:37pm — No Comments

Introducing AccountsRecovery.net

CollectionTechnology.net, AutoFinanceNews.net's sister site, starts a new chapter this week as AccountsRecovery.net.

The name change reflects the growing evolution of CollectionTechnology.net’s content and community from just “collections” to an online community for all AR professionals, in addition to third-party execs. AccountsRecovery.net, we believe, accurately reflects that expanded community.

In addition to the new name at

… Continue

Added by Mary Wisniewski on July 27, 2010 at 9:00am — No Comments

BMW, VW Credit Execs Join AFS Speaker Faculty

Shaun Bugbee, a vice president at BMW Financial, and Bruce Harris, chief risk officer at VW Credit, have joined the roster of stellar speakers at the upcoming Auto Finance Summit.

Bugbee will participate in a discussion entitled “The Prognosis for Leasing Amid Strong Tailwinds.” The panel will address topics including the Detroit Three’s return to leasing, residual trends and auction values, and the outlook for fleet leasing.

Harris will present a session called “Counterin… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on July 26, 2010 at 11:30am — No Comments

What’s Happened to the Market for Auto Loans?

According to CUNA Mutual Group’s Credit Union Trends Report for May 2010, “Through the first three months of 2010, vehicle loans held by CUs declined by 2.6%. Since the expiration of ‘cash for clunkers’, month-only declines have averaged 0.8%. Over the past year, CU vehicle loans have declined 3.7%”.

Over the last very difficult year credit unions using the DILLS™ system have fared better than the national average, but hardly anyone’s numbers are where they were a year ago. As we move

… Continue

Added by Integrated Lending Technologies on July 23, 2010 at 12:33pm — No Comments

Have Losses Leveled Off?

Ford Motor Credit chalked up its 35% increase in earnings last quarter to lower losses and higher auction values. But don’t expect that trend to continue in the second half, the Ford Motor Co. captive warned, as loss-improvement will likely slow and auction prices are due to drop.

Here’s the comment from the company’s 2Q10 earnings release today:

“Ford Credit now expects full year 2010 profits to be higher than its 2009 profits. The second half

… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on July 23, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Auto Finance Council Debuts Industry Code of Ethics

In a first-ever move to codify best practices for the auto finance industry, the Auto Finance Council, a new group of lending and leasing executives that advocate on behalf of the entire industry, have published the Auto Finance Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.