Toyota Financial Services Takes Home Two Excellence Awards

Toyota Financial Services was a two-time winner at the Auto Finance Summit in Las Vegas last week.

TFS took the Auto Finance Excellence Award for Overall Performance in Auto Finance at the 2014 Auto Finance Summit held in Las Vegas last week, after receiving a score of 8.33 out of 10 in four categories: service, reps, pricing and product selection.

The awards were based on results from the Auto Finance Performance initiative, which digitally fielded 9,793 dealer responses during a query conducted in June and July. Overall performance was measured from a low score of 1 to a high score of 10.

TFS also won an Auto Finance Excellence Award for completing its three-phased collections strategy optimization, which the company began in 2008. Scott Sasso, chief operating officer at TFS, accepted both awards on behalf of the company.

Excellence Awards were also given for the best performance in the prime and subprime spaces. BBVA Compass Bank Dealer won the award for top prime auto lender in the nation this year, with a score of 8.14, while Gateway One Lending & Finance was at the other end of the credit spectrum, winning the award for top subprime auto finance performer with a score of 8.55.

Ally Financial received an Excellence Award for innovation in social media. The company’s unique content and expert insight posted throughout the week on the Ally Auto Facebook, Twitter, Google+ pages and the Ally Auto Roadmap blog has raised engagement among the channels 43% so far in 2014. The award was accepted by Mike Kane, vice president, consumer credit operations at Ally.

The award for community service went to Merchants Fleet Management, a family-run business of 50-years. Among the company’s many charitable efforts, Merchants was honored this year for its Gail Singer Memorial Blood Drive, now “America’s Largest One-Day Community Blood Drive.” Started in 1984, the drive set a new national record last year when it collected nearly 2,000 pints of blood. Patrick T. Inks, chief credit and quality officer, accepted the award on his company’s behalf.

The awards ceremony concluded with the Excellence Award for Leadership, given to those who go above and beyond to make substantial contributions to the industry. This year the award went to Michael Benoit, a partner at Hudson Cook, for his advocacy for the industry, as well as for his Auto Finance News Compliance Insider column, which has called out regulators for hypocrisy and duplicitous stances, in the face of unprecedented regulatory action from the Consumer Financial Services Bureau and other regulators.

The 2014 Auto Finance Excellence Award winners are:

• Toyota Financial Services (2 awards)
• BBVA Compass
• Gateway One Lending & Finance
• Ally Financial
• Merchants Fleet Management
• Michael Benoit