Fuel Capital Group is preparing to open a new office in Dallas to gain a stronger foothold in the territory and expand its business, Chief Executive Rick Collins told Powersports Finance.
“I’ve been in the auto finance industry here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for 40 years, and the nice thing about it is that when you’re a loan or lease company — whether it’s auto or motorcycles — they say all roads end up in Dallas, Texas,” Collins said. “There are probably about 15,000 people in the financial services arena here that would fit well [with Fuel], and we don’t have that luxury in South Florida with being able to expand and bring on the folks that can truly help us grow in various areas.”
The Dallas location will join Fuel’s original headquarters in Naples, Fla. Both locations will have the same departments and services. Fuel is currently operating out of a temporary Dallas location while the lease on its permanent facility is finalized.
In addition to bringing on new talent to help expand the business, Fuel targeted Dallas to create more business opportunities in the west and “cover as many time zones as possible,” Collins added.
The lessor grew its dealer network over the course of the year to 450 dealers, up from more than 100 dealers in February. While the increase is not regionally specific, Fuel is primarily building out its network in the west and states with a strong powersports business, such as Texas. The lessor has added 35 to 40 dealerships per month and credits the monthly growth to “various products” that it plans to launch in 2020, which further incentivized dealers hungry for more leasing options to sign up.
“I think that there are dealers looking for more lease opportunities,” Collins explained. “So, by creating the things that we have in our playbook coming up, I think it’s going to entice dealers to come on board with us early on and get to know us as we start rolling out these various products.”
