Although Tim Russi, president of auto finance at Ally Financial Inc., does not predict a downturn or recession on the horizon, lenders should always be prepared, he told Auto Finance News.
“The trends out there right now don’t suggest that the cycle is going to end,” he said. “[However], from my perspective, you always plan for it: What are you going to do, how are you going to do it, and what is the implication for your business model.”
Russi sat down with AFN at the 2016 Auto Finance Summit to talk industry trends, including longer loan terms and the current landscape of the used-vehicle market — an area he previously said could yield future financing opportunity for Ally.
“Historically, if you back up, we did very little used [financing],” he said during a fireside chat at the summit. “We looked at our opportunities, and we wanted to expand our dealer base beyond the dealer channel we had — which was practically [all] GM, and we added the Chrysler channel.”
Hear more from Russi in the video below — the first in a video series sponsored by White Clarke Group:
