Chris Neuhaus, credit risk manager at M&T Bank, and Vijay Patil, director of credit risk and information management at Mitsubishi Motors Credit of America, have joined the speaker faculty at the upcoming Auto Finance Risk Summit.



The Auto Finance Risk Summit highlights the central role risk management plays in all functions of auto lending and leasing.



Neuhaus will participate in a discussion entitled “Executive Dialogue: Defining the New Risk…

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Ford Motor Credit Co.’s fourth-quarter earnings fell 23%, yet full-year profits still skyrocketed.



The Ford Motor Co. captive earned $2 billion in 2010, 53% more than the $1.3 billion it earned in 2009. The reasons: a lower provision for credit losses and less depreciation for leased vehicles.



The growth came despite lower fourth-quarter profits, which fell to $367 million from $452 million in the final quarter of 2009. Ford Credit blamed the decline on lower origination… Continue

For the third straight year, Toyota took the crown as the world’s biggest auto manufacturer.



Toyota edged past General Motors, but the gap narrowed. Toyota sold 8.4 million vehicles, 28,000 more than GM. In 2009, Toyota outpaced GM by 330,000 vehicles.



Some analysts predict that GM will regain the top spot this year, mostly because of its dominance over Toyota in China. In 2010, GM sold more cars in China than it did in the U.S., a first for the…

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Health benefits, flexible work schedules, and high bonuses made four auto and auto finance firms among the best companies to work for in 2010, according to a ranking by Fortune magazine.



Mercedes-Benz USA, JM Family Enterprises, and USAA climbed the ranks this year to take the 15th, 16th, and 17th spots, respectively. CarMax, meanwhile, fell 25 notches to No. 81.



Here’s the list, along with Fortune’s rationale:



Mercedes-Benz… Continue

Sparta Commercial Services Inc., a New York-based powersports lender, has inked a deal with a regional bank to offer nonprime consumer indirect auto finance. Sparta will originate the loans, then sell them to the bank, which it declined to name, for servicing.



Sparta’s auto finance program will be offered to new and used auto dealerships, but likely will be most commonly used by those with affiliated motorcycle… Continue

In the past two years, direct loans have dropped to 12%, from 19%, of Wells Fargo Dealer Services’ portfolio. Even so, the overall portfolio has grown 39% during that time.



Wells Fargo’s auto portfolio closed the year at $39.3 billion, up from $32.2 billion at yearend 2009.



While indirect auto loans have been growing, the direct auto-loan portion of the portfolio has been on the decline. Last quarter, direct auto loans comprised $4.8 billion of the overall portfolio.…

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Eric Tam, director of risk management at CarMax Auto Finance, and Daniel Parry, chief credit officer of Exeter Finance Corp., have joined the roster of stellar speakers at the upcoming Auto Finance Risk Summit.



Tam will participate in a discussion entitled “Executive Dialogue: Defining the New Risk Challenges in Auto Finance.” The panel will address topics including evolving risk goals within the industry, the most dangerous risk threats, and success stories of…

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Chase Auto Finance’s portfolio wrapped up the year at $48.4 billion — 5% higher than it was in 4Q09 — but fourth-quarter loan-origination volume dropped to its lowest level in two years.

Chase Auto Finance originated $4.8 billion in the final quarter of 2010, down from $6.1 billion in the third quarter and $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009.

In fact, aside from the third and fourth quarters of 2008, when the credit markets started to crumble, Chase Auto’s…

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New-vehicle sales were back on a positive trajectory last year, after five years of decline. Granted, despite the 10.5% growth, vehicle volume was still lower than it’s been in nearly 20 years.



Sure, new-car sales shot up 31% from November to December 2010, and grew more than twice that amount — 64% — from January to yearend. Still, the SAAR came in at 11.5 million, a far cry from the 16-to-17 million averages of the early 2000s.



So where are we headed in 2011? Venture…

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With 61.2 million smartphone users in the U.S. — up 50% from mid-2009 — it’s no wonder that auto financiers are increasingly tailoring their services toward mobile devices.



In the past week, two auto finance companies have debuted mobile offerings. For one, Santander Consumer USA released its first… Continue

File this under "I Guess This Makes It Real."

Yesterday, General Motors Financial Co. filed its first document with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the "GM Financial" name.

GM Financial is the former AmeriCredit, which General Motors…

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