Ally Financial and Westlake Financial Services jointly announced that Westlake will list vehicles for sale on SmartAuction, Ally’s wholesale auto auction platform, on Wednesday.
“We’re using SmartAuction for newer vehicles as well as some other vehicles as an additional way to [remarket],” Ian Anderson, group president of Westlake Financial Services, told Auto Finance News. Westlake has about 14,600 vehicles out for repossession and remarkets between 5,000 and 6,000 vehicles at auction every month, he said.
Westlake already has an established relationship with Ally through its pass-through program, so this was a natural extension of that relationship, he said. The cars and trucks became available to dealers registered on SmartAuction beginning May 1.
For the near term, Westlake has no plans to announce additional partnerships. “Overall, we’re very much focused strategically on not only our Westlake dealers but also our 480,000 customers,” Anderson said. “Right now, we continue to be focused on our core business. As strategic opportunities present themselves, we will move there.”
