As General Motors gears up to increase its U.S. marketshare this year, the Detroit-based automaker is putting a lot of eggs in its leasing basket. And with good reason: Its first-quarter lease penetration has hit its highest level since before the financial crisis. 

After experiencing a small amount of lease…

We wrote recently about how fewer younger people are driving, and those who are, are driving less.

That has made the job of marketing to millennials much harder. But there have been a number of recent articles and events aimed at…

Banks often offer promotions to entice consumers to do business with them. Getting a free toaster when opening a checking account is a well-known favorite, and we’ve seen lots of other giveaways as well.

It’s no different on the auto finance side, especially in the summertime, and particularly at credit unions. From cash back to free gas, AFN.net spied a bunch of credit unions taking creative steps to bolster both their member numbers and auto…

Want to find out what percentage of New York borrowers in the 18-to-34 age bracket are 90-or-more days delinquent on their auto loans? Or how many 50-to-64-year-old auto loan borrowers in Connecticut have credit scores higher than 620?

Now you can, thanks to a nifty, interactive tool launched last week by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The tool tracks regional indicators of…

Though the Nissan Altima ranked first on CarFinance.com's list of most frequently refinanced vehicles, Chrysler brands notched three of the Top 10 spots. The Ram 1500 placed second, the Dodge Charger was fifth, and the Chrysler 300 placed ninth.Two Hondas (the Accord and the Civic), two Toyotas (Camry, Corolla),…

Actress Olivia Munn from HBO’s “Newsroom” series, which is about to enter its second season, was seen around Hollywood in her Chevrolet Volt recently.

We’re thinking General Motors couldn’t be happier.

Munn gets props for owning (or we assume she owns) a Volt, the first gas-electric hybrid in…

Forbes did a wonderful job on a recent portrait of Don Hankey, the man behind Westlake Financial Services.

The profile is worth a read. Hankey, who started Westlake in 1988 and remains very much behind the scenes, has built an automotive-related empire that Forbes values at $1.6 billion. Westlake, as some of you know, is a big…

There is no question that the U.S. auto market is doing well. In fact, it is booming, with its projected rates showing that it could be back at a pre-recession sales level within the next year. However, these numbers do not reflect the state of the entire economy. Subprime auto financing is on the rise. It is a mere 1% lower than it was in 2008, even as the average prime-lending credit score is almost back to the same levels it was at that point. Despite it becoming increasingly easy to get…

Group 1 Automotive, the fourth-largest dealer group in the U.S., has unloaded four dealerships, the company announced Friday. 

In recent weeks, the Houston-based company disposed of Miller Honda and Miller Toyota in Culver City, Calif., World Ford in Stone Mountain, Ga., and Messer Mazda in Amarillo, Texas, in three separate transactions. Additionally, Group 1 also unloaded real estate associated with the Stone Mountain store.

The four dealerships,…

Show my two-year-old daughter an iPhone, and she will swipe to turn it on, search for her favorite apps (currently a tie between Netflix and Disney Junior), and search for a show to watch. All in the time it takes to tie your shoes.

My daughter, like her two older brothers, and millions of other kids worldwide, are growing up in the age of smartphones. The technology they have been exposed to has grown so much and so quickly that it can be hard for others, like banks and auto lenders,…

The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index in May dropped 0.1% to 119.1, bringing the indicator of wholesale used-vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage-, and seasonally adjusted basis) 4.8% lower than it was a year ago.

May's decline was much slighter than the drop recorded in the prior four months. In recent months,…

Fitzgerald Debt Acquisitions, LLC, has increased its list of potential debt purchasers and is looking for debt sellers who are waiting for opportunities. We heavily vet our clientele, and do the proper due diligence to assure that those who choose to sell through us know that our buyers are the most trustworthy in the business.

If you are looking to move some debt that has been sitting around with poor…

When the credit crisis hit in 2008, the commercial paper market went with it. At the market's height, in July 2007, there was nearly $2.2 trillion of commercial paper outstanding. Just two years later, CP outstandings had fallen to about $1.1 trillion. In many ways, CP was the "poster child" financing vehicle for the credit crisis.

But there is evidence that commercial paper appears to be making a coming back in auto finance. 

The overall CP market continues to bounce along, as…

The U.S. Treasury Department announced yesterday on its website that it was selling 30 million shares of General Motors Co. common stock in an underwritten public…

Coke vs.Pepsi. Apple vs. Microsoft.…

After improving their share of sales last year, Millennials have continued their return to the car-buying marketplace so far this year. According to Edmunds.com, these 18-to-34-year-old car shoppers are buoyed by factors such as improving income and employment, more household formations, and increased consumer…

If there were any doubts about a leasing comeback, the proof is in the latest data from Experian Automotive: Leasing accounted for 27.5% of all new vehicles financed in 1Q13. “This is a historical high,” Experian Senior Director of Automotive Credit Melinda Zabritski said during the company’s State of the Automotive Finance Market webinar today.

Leasing had a 3.1% year-over-year increase to reach the highest level Experian has reported since it began tracking the auto finance market…

Following a slight decline the previous month, auto sales were on the rebound in May.

Price cuts on seven popular models spurred Nissan sales to jump 25% to more than 114,000 cars and trucks, the Japanese carmaker’s highest May sales ever. Chrysler, meanwhile, saw an 11% uptick to nearly 167,000 cars and trucks, giving the Detroit manufacturer its best may since 2007 — and its 38th consecutive year-over-year monthly sales gain. …

In an effort to kick-start slumping sales on its electric car, Honda Motor Co. said yesterday it will lower the monthly lease payment on the Fit EV to $259 per month from $389. Additionally, there’s no down payment on the Fit lease, and the contract includes unlimited mileage, collision coverage, and a free…