| | | WEEKLY REPORT | March 14, 2012 |
| | | | | | | 5 ways to outsmart customers' smartphones
 Finance Director Megan Jacoby's job starts when her customers pull out their smartphones. While she's explaining a menu of finance and insurance products to customers, some get online via their smartphone or BlackBerry to price the products elsewhere -- service contracts, finance rates, guaranteed asset protection coverage and tire-and-wheel protection. ...  story
| Why the subprime pool is growing …
Subprime loans are easier to get and cheaper, too, as competition among lenders heats up. That's encouraging news for dealerships, since the subprime sector had been rebounding more slowly than prime. Still, U.S. auto sales continue to rise from their 27-year lows of 2009. February's seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.1 million light vehicles was the highest in four years. ... story
| … and how it's helping Chrysler
 Chrysler Group's U.S. sales are surging in part because of subprime growth, Chrysler's dealer council chief says. “Our biggest market share gains are from those with prime credit or better,” says David Kelleher, chairman of the Chrysler National Dealer Council. “But we had a big section of our customers from three and four years ago who had subprime credit that we are now able ... story
|
Wanted: Hot F&I ideas Got something that makes your F&I department tick? This is your chance to shout about it and help your peers along the way. Automotive News is looking for you to share ideas -- big or small -- that make your F&I operation run smoother, boost profit, delight customers.
We'll consider them for a Webinar called "Dealers Share Their F&I Best Practices." It will be part of Automotive News F&I Week, a free, online conference June 19-21. | |
| | | | |  | | |
F&I BY THE NUMBERS
Chargebacks stable at Asbury
Asbury Automotive's chargebacks rose in 2010 and 2011, but F&I revenues increased too -- enough to keep chargebacks at the dealership group constant as a percentage of F&I revenues. If a customer prepays or defaults on a retail sales contract or cancels an insurance contract or extended-service contract, a dealership can be charged back for some or all commissions already received. Dollars in millions. | | | | | | | | | Chargebacks | Change | % of
F&I revenue | | 2011 | $16.8 | 22.6% | 12% | | 2010 | $13.7 | 15.1% | 12% | | | | | |
| | Source: Asbury |
|
|
|
| | | | |
JIM HENRY
F&I's newest battle: Online shopping
| |  | Jim Henry is a special correspondent for Automotive News | |
Now that consumers are shopping for auto loans online in the same way they shop for cars online, the F&I pricing model is changing. Internet shopping is ushering in a new level of competition, comparison-shopping and transparency for auto loan deals.
The auto finance track at next week's Consumer Bankers Association conference in Austin, Texas, promises a heavy emphasis on the online channel.
More customers are walking into showrooms with a strong preference for a particular lender or with finance approval already in hand. That presents a new set of challenges for dealerships, which rely on negotiating indirect loans for a great deal of their F&I profits, not to mention overall profits.
Meanwhile, at other recent auto finance conferences, auto lenders have said they're taking more and more credit applications online. A lot of those loan applications will get switched to indirect loans when customers actually enter dealerships, but some lender-direct loans are bound to stick.
That means F&I managers have a real fight on their hands.
Dealers cry foul as U.S. regulations create more F&I paperwork, costs
 Deal jackets are getting fatter all the time. In the past decade, government regulators have come up with dozens of new rules and have updated existing ones. The pace of new rules has picked up in the last few years. ... story
| Why e-deals are replacing paper -- and why not
 Andrea Forteleoni, finance director at Bill Seidle Nissan in Miami, can tick off several reasons why he likes paperless sales contracts. But he cuts quickly to the bottom line: He gets paid by the bank in a few hours, and often the same day, if the deal is done through e-contracting rather than paper forms. ... story
|
F&I PRESS RELEASES
» FTC Takes Action To Stop Deceptive Car Dealership Ads
» A Special Reward for BMW Financial Services Users of 'The Ultimate Drive App' for iPhone and Android devices in Celebration of the Launch of the New BMW 3 Series
DEALER JOB LISTINGS
| | |  | | |
F&I BY THE NUMBERS
GM, Ally: Still close
General Motors and Ally, formerly GMAC, remain closely aligned, even as GM signs up more lender partners. GM paid more incentive money to Ally in 2011, while GM-incentivized loans accounted for a greater share of Ally's new-vehicle loan volume. | | | U.S. marketing incentives and lease residual payments paid by GM to Ally Financial, in billions: | | | | Loans carrying an incentive from GM, as a percent of U.S. new-vehicle originations for Ally: | | | | Sources: GM, Ally |
|
|
|
|  | | >> Unsubscribe from this newsletter Copyright © Automotive News Designed by Templatesbox.com | | Automotive News is located at 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, Michigan, 48207 |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment