Chrysler Capital’s floorplan decline will likely see an about-face in the coming months, Shawn Allgood, head of Chrysler Capital and auto relationships for Santander Consumer USA, told Auto Finance News.
“Over the course of the last few months, we’ve picked up some really big dealers,” Allgood said. “And I think you’re going to see that our floorplan is going to grow quite a bit over the course of the next year.”
Chrysler’s floorplan volume had dropped to $2.6 billion in the second quarter from $2.7 billion in the first and $2.8 billion in the final quarter of 2018, according to Santander’s earnings data.
“During the time of the [contract] negotiation [with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles], it was more challenging for dealers to make a big decision like that,” Allgood noted, referring to a June amendment to Santander’s financing partnership with FCA. “Now that we’ve come through that, our phones are ringing. The work we’re doing on the retail side is getting dealers’ attention, and we have a lot of deals in the pipeline. That suggests to me that we’re on the verge of having some good growth.”