The real battle ground for auto loans today is … on Google.
More specifically, the fiercest fight is over the search term “car loans.” It is, arguably, the most searched auto finance-related term, and landing on the first page of that search has true direct-lending benefits. That first page is the equivalent of the cool clique of the industry.
Here are the companies on the first page:
- Bank of America
- LendingTree
- FederalAutoLoan.com
- Capital One Auto Finance
- Chase Auto Finance
- RoadLoans
- Bank of America (again)
- LendingTree (again)
- Wells Fargo
- Nationwide
- BankRate
- BankRate (again)
- Cars.com
Capital One Auto Finance had been in the No. 1 position on that search last month, but fell off. Bank of America, meanwhile, has climbed in the listing, as has Chase Auto Finance. RoadLoans.com, Santander Consumer USA’s direct lending arm, continues to inch its way up the search ranking.
Finally, US Bank fell off Page One this month.
The search results will continue to become more crucial as direct lending grows, which is expected in 2014.
