Rifco National Auto Finance’s dealer network increased 20% year over year to 500 dealers, which prompted its loan originations to grow 17% to $26 million in the second quarter, said Doug Decksheimer, the company’s vice president and chief marketing officer.
Last year, Red Deer, Alberta-based Rifco’s goal was “to grow if the right credit mix was available,” he told AFN. “The lending environment had to be right. We think the ingredients are getting better for us to start growing again, so that will be our core focus this year.”
The nonprime lender’s volume boost is more concentrated in Eastern Canada, as the company continues its “planned growth” throughout the region, he added. “The Western hub is very oil-centric, so jobs are driven by the economy of oil, and obviously that market has been down of late,” Decksheimer said. “As a company, we made an effort to get outside of the Western base. We have hired additional staff out East and we are enrolling more dealers to get a larger concentration on the Eastern side of Canada.”
