SNAAC, Ally, Exeter and Toyota Financial’s Borst Win 2011 Excellence Awards

Three companies and one senior executive have been awarded 2011 Auto Finance Excellence Awards, which are presented annually to companies and individuals that have achieved notable success or contributed greatly to the auto finance industry in the past year.

The recipients — Security National Automotive Acceptance Corp., Ally Financial Inc., Exeter Finance Corp., and Toyota Financial Services Chief Executive George Borst — were presented with the awards at the Auto Finance Summit in Las Vegas on Oct. 27.

The Auto Finance Excellence Awards are presented annually at the Auto Finance Summit by Auto Finance News, the industry’s leading publication on car lending and leasing, AutoFinanceNews.net, and Royal Media Group, the periodical’s publisher and the Summit’s producer.

In the 25 years since Security National Automotive Acceptance Corp.’s founding, the Mason, Ohio, company has equally dedicated itself to community and charitable endeavors as it has to specialty finance of new and used automobiles to military personnel in 30 states. In the words of the company, “Throughout the year, SNAAC associates participate in various ‘Giving Back’ programs, such as Adopt a Family during the holidays, sending care packages to troops, blood drives, and sending school supplies to children in need.” Clearly, giving back is a part of Security National’s corporate DNA.

For the second straight year, Ally Financial was rewarded for stellar performance. This is the year that Ally’s diversification strategy really shined, with a significant increase in leasing and used vehicle originations, floorplan, insurance, and retail lending. The company was also honored for its Ally Dealer Rewards program that awards dealers who use Ally financing and services, which synch well with Ally Bank’s Perks rewards program for consumers.

Several developments in the past year have earned Exeter Finance Corp. a 2011 Auto Finance Excellence Award. Without a doubt, though, one development overshadowed them all: Blackstone Group’s acquisition of Exeter in August, a transaction that included an investment of as much as $277 million in the company. That, along with a vast increase in credit facility to $600 million from Wells Fargo, has put Exeter on a vastly steep growth trajectory.

Borst at the helm of the nation’s second-largest auto finance company ― now with more than $97 billion of assets under management worldwide ― has uniquely and laudably lifted Toyota Financial Services out of crisis to sunnier skies. In the past years, TFS has faced the triple threat of a credit crisis-turned-economic recession, unprecedented recalls that resulted in a halt in production and stop-sale of eight vehicles in the Toyota lineup and, the devastation of one of the greatest earthquakes and tsunamis to hit Japan in modern history.

Kudos to all the winners of the 2011 Excellence Awards. Their contributions to the auto finance industry will surely inspire others.