Just one year after restructuring its operations, Exeter Finance Corp. marked its tenth year in auto finance last month, and in the short term, will shift its focus “more on safety and soundness rather than on portfolio growth,” according to Jason Grubb, Exeter’s chief executive.
Exeter Finance rolled out a new origination platform in January 2015, reshaping the subprime lender by allowing it to offer quicker loan decisions. The shift marked an overhaul of Exeter’s corporate structure to a centralized model — from the branch network upon which the company was founded back in 2006. Exeter now operates in two central operations centers in Clearfield, Utah, and Irving, Texas.
“Our new consolidated structure promotes pricing consistency and improves our cost structure,” Grubb said. “We made this change to be able to capitalize on future opportunities.”
The lender has also rebranded its company logo and mission statement last month in an effort to provide a “refreshed approach” and further enforce the company’s new focus, Grubb said.
Additionally, Exeter’s top projects for this year “are focused on the dealer services division and our servicing operating system,” he said. “Our new dealer portal is a big initiative that will be released in phases, while our servicing system enhancements are designed to improve scalability and mitigate regulatory risks.”
Exeter has grown steadily since its founding. The specialty lender became the third-largest issuer of subprime retail auto loans ABS in 2014, ended 2015 with $3.1 billion in receivables and more than $1.5 billion in originations, according to a company press release.