The real battle ground for auto loans today is … on Google.
More specifically, the fiercest fight is over the search term “car loans.” It is, arguably, the most searched auto finance-related term, and landing on the first page of that search has true direct-lending benefits. That first page is the equivalent of the cool clique of the industry.
Here are the companies on the first page:
- Bank of America
- LendingTree
- FederalAutoLoan.com
- Capital One Auto Finance
- Chase Auto Finance
- RoadLoans
- Bank of America (again)
- LendingTree (again)
- Wells Fargo
- Nationwide
- BankRate
- BankRate (again)
- Cars.com
Capital One Auto Finance had been in the No. 1 position on that search last month, but fell off. Bank of America, meanwhile, has climbed in the listing, as has Chase Auto Finance. RoadLoans.com, Santander Consumer USA’s direct lending arm, continues to inch its way up the search ranking.
Finally, US Bank fell off Page One this month.
The search results will continue to become more crucial as direct lending grows, which is expected in 2014.
The real battle ground for auto loans today is … on Google.
More specifically, the fiercest fight is over the search term “car loans.” It is, arguably, the most searched auto finance-related term, and landing on the first page of that search has true direct-lending benefits. That first page is the equivalent of the cool clique of the industry.
Here are the companies on the first page:
- Bank of America
- LendingTree
- FederalAutoLoan.com
- Capital One Auto Finance
- Chase Auto Finance
- RoadLoans
- Bank of America (again)
- LendingTree (again)
- Wells Fargo
- Nationwide
- BankRate
- BankRate (again)
- Cars.com
Capital One Auto Finance had been in the No. 1 position on that search last month, but fell off. Bank of America, meanwhile, has climbed in the listing, as has Chase Auto Finance. RoadLoans.com, Santander Consumer USA’s direct lending arm, continues to inch its way up the search ranking.
Finally, US Bank fell off Page One this month.
The search results will continue to become more crucial as direct lending grows, which is expected in 2014.
IMHO the only thing this means is that consumers will use the information from Bank of America more to validate the deal they get from their dealer than say Chase. F&I will still be controlled at the dealer level. F&I departments have been dealing with competitors forever. This is only another method of delivery of information. I don’t expect direct lending to grow at all.
I also think we will see the entry of a major lender into pre-owned vehicle leasing, the single biggest area of untapped opportunity in the area of auto finance.
Hi, Dave. Certainly, a large component of “direct” traffic ends up being “validation” traffic. But increasingly there is actual direct lending traffic. I know, for example, that at least one lender puts exceptionally high stock in the ranking we shared above. That lender wants to be No. 1 on the Google search list, and is investing substantial amounts of money and effort into making that happen.
Now, will the amount of direct originations make a notable dent on indirect volume? That, of course, is another discussion entirely. But the shift in originations, in my view, is worth watching.
As for preowned leasing, that’s your area of expertise, and I defer to you accordingly.