TD Auto Finance is considering opportunities in auto refinance and private party transactions, and so long as it can figure out a way to leverage its base of customers, “we’d definitely do it,” President and Chief Executive Andrew Stuart told Auto Finance News.
“It’s something that we’re definitely considering and [watching] where it’s going to intersect with what we’re doing today is in the digital space,” Stuart said. “We also recognize that we have more than 6,000 dealer customers around the country and we certainly don’t want to get in the way of that relationship by doing a lot of direct business, but we are interested in how the two could intersect and compliment one another.”
Internal research at TD shows that consumers are unhappy with the car buying process, Stuart said, and he’s met with several startups looking to address the problem from a direct and indirect perspective in order to “make it easier for the customer to do business with us,” he added.
However, the company doesn’t offer any direct financing currently — through its branch networks or online — in part to strengthen the relationships with its dealer partners.
“For us as an indirect lending business, the relationship with the dealer is very important and so we don’t ever want to be seen as an organization that’s getting in the way of dealers doing their business or taking business away from a dealer that they may be enjoying today,” Stuart said. “That said there is certainly a market for refinancing, buying a used car on a private basis or what have you. The extent to which these can coexist I think is what’s important to us.”
