Westlake Financial Services is now a lending partner on the AutoGravity platform, which facilitates loan originations for consumers shopping for a vehicle online, the company’s announced in a press release this morning.
AutoGravity expanded to 46 states earlier this year with the promise it could offer consumers up to four financing options, from four different lenders in all of those states. The Southern California-based lender joins a growing list of captives and financial institutions including Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and First-Investors Financial Services.
“The partnership arose after I first met with some guys from AutoGravity at a conference, including (Vice President of Sales and Dealer Networks) Aleks Bogoeski,” Chris Urban, senior vice president of risk management at Westlake, told Auto Finance News ahead of the release. “I saw it as an opportunity to drive more business to Westlake and keep up with new technology in the auto buying experience.”
The partnership will also drive more business to Westlake’s network of 20,000 new and used dealers that span all 50 states, Urban said. Westlake is only financing consumers who are prequalified, which will make the transaction at the dealership very smooth and without surprises,” he added.
Westlake is financing “all credit types” Andy Hinrichs, founder and CEO of AutoGravity, said in the release, but Urban said it’s still far too early to tell what the loan performance will look like.
“We created AutoGravity to improve the car financing experience by putting multiple finance options in the palms of customers’ hands,” Hinrichs said. “Our partnership with Westlake Financial Services drives more customers to dealerships and expands Westlake’s ability to finance customers with all credit types.”
