Scotia Dealer Advantage, the nonprime subsidiary of Scotia Bank, is looking into which areas outside of auto could increase margins, said Deputy and Director of Operations and Finance Bruce Wilson. “Margins have definitely shrunk, not crazily down, but they have gone down over the past couple of years,” Wilson said.“We’re investigating what other marketing programs we can offer to generate volume or continue to hold on to market share. It’s a tough thing to increase market share as more and more people are entering the business.”
Although Scotia Bank already offers RV financing to customers in the prime sector, Scotia Dealer Advantage may expand the program into the bank’s nonprime area. “That’s one thing we’re looking at, but it’s not a huge market,” Wilson said. “I don’t know of anyone that’s doing nonprime recreational vehicles in Canada yet.” Scotia Dealer Advantage expects to begin a pilot in the coming year, “but in the very, very near-prime” space, Wilson said. “I don’t think it’s going to get very deep down the credit curve in that market,”
he added.