Featured Blog Posts – October 2010 Archive (14)

Colorado Court Rules in Favor of Car Buyer Using Fake SSN

Though Felix Montes-Rodriguez admitted to using somebody else’s Social Security number on the car loan application he submitted to Hajek Chevrolet, a Colorado court found him innocent of criminal impersonation.

In an Oct. 25 ruling, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in favor of Montes-Rodriguez because some of the information on the credit app was correct.

“He gave his correct address, birth date and place of employment," wrote Justice Michael Bender. "Most importantly,… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 28, 2010 at 2:30pm — 7 Comments

Regulatory Change May Open Door for Bank Leasing in Canada

North of the border, leasing has plunged to 7% of the finance market, from 45% in 2005. Now bankers — and some automakers — are banding together to try to change that.

For years, leasing was a captive-only offering. Banks were prohibited from granting leases as mandated by the federal Bank Act. But in advance of the 2011 review of the legislation, several Canadian OEMs — GM, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Nissan — have come out publicly in favor of modifying the law to include banks. Their… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 28, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Is the Fed on the Side of Securitizers?

Part of Dodd-Frank required that the Federal Reserve Board publish a report on the risk retention of lenders in securitizations.

Ostensibly, the report is to be used to foist more risk retention on issuers. The only thing is the report published by the Fed last week seems to nod to leaving things alone.

[Full Disclosure: Because of my involvement in the auto finance industry, I submitted a…

Continue

Added by JJ Hornblass on October 27, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Ford Credit Earnings Climb 16% in 3Q

Ford Motor Credit Co. cited lower loss provisions and less lease depreciation as reasons for improved earnings last quarter.

The Ford Motor Co. captive earned $497 million in the third quarter, up from $427 million in the prior-year quarter. It had $85 billion of managed receivables, down from $95 billion at yearend 2009.

“The lower receivables primarily reflected the transition of Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, and Volvo financing to other finance providers and lower… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 26, 2010 at 2:32pm — No Comments

AutoTrader.com to Buy Kelley Blue Book

Car-buying marketplace AutoTrader.com announced today the acquisition of auto-value provider Kelley Blue Book in a deal expected to exceed $500 million. The exact purchase price was not disclosed.

Atlanta-based AutoTrader, founded 12 years ago, hopes the move will boost advertising revenue.

AutoTrader serves as a middleman for car buyers and sellers, aggregating sales data from dealers and private sellers. Meanwhile, 84-year-old Kelley Blue Book provides new and used… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 26, 2010 at 1:13pm — No Comments

Dealer Terminations in the Wake of Higher Sales

Two Ohio congressmen are seeking postponement of hundreds of General Motors dealership closures because they contend the termination process was “rife with secrecy.” U.S. Reps. Steven LaTourette and John A. Boehner sent letters Friday to Pres. Barack Obama, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky asking for the process to be halted until an investigation of dealer terminations is completed.

But maybe the terminations should be halted for… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 26, 2010 at 11:54am — No Comments

Evidence of the Coming Wave of Growth

At last week's Auto Finance Summit, I argued that automotive lending and leasing was in prime position for growth not just in 2011, but over the next five years. I stand by that assessment, and am buoyed by yet another data marker.

We tracked Google's automotive financing index, which tracks the search…

Continue

Added by JJ Hornblass on October 22, 2010 at 10:25am — 2 Comments

Trio of Auto ABS Deals Set to Price

The asset-backed securitization market is set for a $2.4 billion infusion of auto-backed issuance.

This week, three new securitizations are slated to come to market: an $819 million lease deal from Ford Credit, a $1 billion loan deal from American Honda Finance, and a $600 million rental car deal from Avis Budget Car Rental.

So far this year, auto-backed deals have comprised more than half of all ABS issuance — $47.5 billion of the total $80.7 billion, according to… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 19, 2010 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Financiers Expect Heightened Competition Amid Looser Underwriting

Competition is starting to shift out of low gear.

After turning the corner on capital constraints and economic distress, the auto finance sector is gaining momentum. Lenders will feel pressure to reach into deeper credit tiers and relax underwriting standards to grow volume.

Those were some of the core findings in the Auto Finance Forecast Fall 2010, an exclusive survey conducted by Auto Finance News and sister web site… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 19, 2010 at 12:12pm — 2 Comments

Ally, Santander, USAA, Wells Fargo and GM Financial Win 2010 Excellence Awards

Five companies have been awarded 2010 Auto Finance Excellence Awards, which are presented annually to companies in the last year that have achieved notable success or contributed greatly to the auto finance industry.

The companies – Ally Financial, Santander Consumer USA, USAA Federal Savings Bank, Wells Fargo Dealer Services, and GM Financial – were presented with the awards at the Auto Finance Summit in Las Vegas on Oct. 13,…

Continue

Added by JJ Hornblass on October 15, 2010 at 3:30pm — 1 Comment

Bad Timing for AFC HoldCo Shutdown?

Earlier this week, independent auto finance company AFC HoldCo LLC announced that it would shut its doors because of the downturn in the auto market.

Japanese investment firm Mitsui & Co. bought the Sunrise, Fla.-based lender in 2007 for $63 million, with the hopes that the auto finance business would expand. AFC HoldCo had been created from the merger of Affiliated Financial Corp. and BayQuest Capital Corp. — which retained a combined 12.5% stake — and was doing business with… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 15, 2010 at 3:20pm — 3 Comments

Auto Finance Summit Quick Take: It's ALL Good

I'm just hours back from the Auto Finance Summit, and while I'll need some time to digest the waterfall of information at the conference, on first blush my conclusion from all the discussions was this: auto finance is back and is only getting better.

From the initial presentations on economic trends favoring -- dare I say -- far higher car sales in 2011 to the prognosis for a jump of leasing next of more than…

Continue

Added by JJ Hornblass on October 14, 2010 at 1:04pm — 2 Comments

The Savings Conundrum

Consumers have started to sock away their money, typically a good sign for the economy in the long run. But the effects on auto finance are yet to be decided.

These days, the personal savings rate has climbed to 6%, from about 1% in 2005. Higher savings typically encourage more investing and lead to improving standards of living, pointed out Chicago Fed Economist Bill Strauss in a presentation yesterday at the Auto Finance Summit.

But if consumers are saving more,… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 13, 2010 at 10:15am — 1 Comment

The ‘Need’ Vs. ‘Want’ Consumer

A recent survey has noted that consumers are increasingly buying cars because they need them, not because they want them.

Specifically, only 21% of respondents to a study by Chrome Systems, a unit of DealerTrack, said they bought or leased a vehicle this year because they wanted something new, down from 32% in 2009. The No. 1 reason for replacement: their current vehicle was either unreliable or had broken down (26%, up from 19%).

Meanwhile, the American Bankers… Continue

Added by Marcie Belles on October 5, 2010 at 12:00pm — 2 Comments