State National Companies Signs On as Customer Experience Partner for Auto Finance Excellence

Auto Finance Excellence, a sister service of Auto Finance News, is proud to announce State National Companies as the official Customer Experience sponsor. State National, a division of Markel Corp., has been in business for more than 45 years and is a specialty provider of collateral protection insurance. In its lender services segment, the company […]

• Nicole Casperson
• February 15, 2019
• Auto Finance Excellence

CPS Bolsters Originations Despite Shrinking Revenue

Consumer Portfolio Services increased originations 5.1% last year, bucking company expectations, Chief Executive Charles Bradley Jr. said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call this week. “2018 was a better year than we expected but nothing [that] we were looking for,” Bradley said. “We've done a tremendous amount of housekeeping in 2018 that should bode well […]

• Joey Pizzolato
• February 14, 2019
• Earnings, Operations

Big Wheels Auto Finance Query Posted Online

Financiers may now electronically submit 2018 results for inclusion in Big Wheels Auto Finance Data: A Ranking of the Nation’s Top Car Financiers. Big Wheels produces the definitive tabulation of automotive lending and leasing activity in the nation. It offers a unique opportunity to include your company’s performance among a ranking of the best of the best in […]

• Marcie Belles
• February 14, 2019
• Capital Markets, Earnings, Operations

Santander Uses AI to Triage Cybersecurity Threats

Difficulty pinpointing the source of a data breach is often to blame for the lag between perpetration and detection of fraud, said Santander Consumer USA Chief Information Security Officer Harold Gonzales at AFSA’s Vehicle Finance Conference. “It’s not like we have a dashboard and one big red light goes off and we all chase after […]

• Bianca Chan
• February 14, 2019
• Risk, Technology, Update

Leasing’s New Look: Financiers Give Lease Options a Makeover

From the February issue: With new-car purchases lagging and used-values increasing, captives and OEMs are reimagining lease products to keep their customer bases growing. Roughly a decade ago, 1.4 million new vehicles were leased — a 16% penetration rate. Fast forward to 2019, and lease volume is expected to reach 4.1 million, with penetration as […]

• Nicole Casperson
• February 13, 2019
• Features, Innovation & Mobility, Operations, Sales & Marketing, Strategy

Call for Speakers: AFN Scouts Speakers for Auto Finance Risk Summit

The Auto Finance Risk Summit — the established industry event for education and networking focused on best practices in risk management — is searching for senior leaders in auto finance to join the speaker roster. Help shape our agenda for the 12th annual Auto Finance Risk Summit to be held at the Omni San Diego on May […]

• Nicole Casperson
• February 13, 2019
• Risk

Used-Vehicle Depreciation Forecasted for Spring 2019

Used-vehicle values are likely to depreciate 15% by yearend, compared with the 12.4% total depreciation seen in 2018, Black Book's Executive Vice President of Operations, Anil Goyal, told Auto Finance News. “We had a great year last year in terms of used vehicle value retention, and it’s highly unlikely it’ll repeat itself this year,” Goyal […]

• Bianca Chan
• February 13, 2019
• Risk, Sales & Marketing

Westlake Financial Aims for Another Year of Growth in 2019

Westlake Financial is shooting for 20% growth in 2019 on the heels of expansion of its direct lending platform and several other units, the lender announced last week. Westlake's portfolio shot up 35% last year, to a record $8.33 billion, with 40.5% of originations in the prime and near-prime credit tiers. Westlake Financial attributed some […]

• Joey Pizzolato
• February 12, 2019
• Earnings, Operations