Slowing Inventory Turnover Reduces Floorplan ABS Payment Rates

As vehicles idle on dealers’ lots, auto lenders face slower repayment of their floorplan loans. Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp., for one, has been in breach of a floorplan trigger since February, when its three-month payment rate dropped below 35%. As such, NMAC had to increase credit enhancement levels in its floorplan trust. Ally Financial, Ford […]

• Marcie Belles
• June 19, 2019
• Capital Markets, Compliance, Sales & Marketing

Competitive (Dis)Advantage: The Data Reporting Standard Set to Disrupt Auto Finance

A new accounting regulation with a staggered implementation schedule is on track to disrupt the auto finance playing field. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rule called Current Expected Credit Losses — or CECL, for short — requires lenders to reserve for the lifetime of a loan’s losses upon origination, which could double loss provisions […]

• Nicole Casperson and Bianca Chan
• June 19, 2019
• Compliance, Features, Risk, Strategy

SNAAC Reveals How a Customer-Centric Strategy Can Mitigate Losses

As delinquencies rise and an economic downturn looms, limiting credit risk and mitigating losses are top of mind for many auto financiers. “Delinquencies are up, losses are up, so what are we going to do to contain them?” Chris Mitcham, senior vice president of servicing at Security National Automotive Acceptance Co., asked the audience at the Auto Finance […]

• Bianca Chan
• June 19, 2019
• Auto Finance Excellence

New-Car Model Shifts as Short-Term Leasing Stocks CPO Programs

An emerging trend — where dealers use off-lease vehicles from short-term leases to stock certified pre-owned (CPO) programs — is shifting the way consumers purchase new cars. This trend is occurring across segments and price points, according to Matt DeLorenzo, senior managing editor of Kelley Blue Book. Kia and Toyota are two OEMS that are both “aggressive in it,” he said, […]

• Bianca Chan
• June 19, 2019
• Operations, Update

Auto Outstandings Grow 30% YOY at 5 Largest Credit Unions

Auto outstandings at the nation’s five largest credit unions increased year over year, totaling $32.5 billion last year compared with $25.2 billion in 2017, according to Big Wheels Auto Finance Data 2019.  No. 1-ranked Navy Federal Credit Union notched a 10.3% increase last year in its auto portfolio, to $13.9 billion. Among the nation’s top […]

• Nicole Casperson
• June 18, 2019
• Credit Performance, Earnings, Operations

Chinese Tariffs to Complicate Underwriting, Slow Innovation, Analyst Says

In addition to increasing vehicle prices, the 25% tariffs imposed on Chinese parts and goods by the Trump administration will complicate the underwriting process for lenders and slow down innovation in the auto industry, Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive, told Auto Finance News. “Americans aren’t suddenly making 10% or 25% more income,” Smoke […]

• Joey Pizzolato
• June 18, 2019
• Innovation & Mobility, Operations, Risk

Despite Stronger May, ABS Credit Performance Likely to ‘Deteriorate,’ Rating Agency Says

After 16 straight quarters of improvement, credit quality in prime auto loan securitizations will start to “deteriorate,” according to a newly released report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency. While May servicer reports showed improving credit performance across prime and nonprime auto securitizations, performance is predicted to weaken through the summer months. “With the effects of the […]

• Bianca Chan
• June 18, 2019
• Credit Performance, Risk

CFPB Supervisory Highlights Provide Guidance on Deficiency Balances and Rebates

Under Richard Cordray’s Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), it was “compliance malpractice” not to take heed of the Bureau’s enforcement actions when determining how to comply with federal consumer finance laws. Both Acting Director Mick Mulvaney and current CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger have stated that the Bureau will no longer engage in such “regulation by enforcement.” While this change in position is […]

• Peter Cockrell
• June 18, 2019
• Auto Finance Excellence, Compliance