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Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Growth Goals Give Dealers More Opportunity and Channels to Sell More Vehicles in 2011.
Now that the markets have opened back up and the recession seems to be easing, acquisition activity has already slowed as lenders focus on growing originations. We are no different. After a period of rapid growth through acquisition, our resources are now fully integrated and we will focus on organically growing our business in 2011. Growth not only means adding to the dealer base and boosting originations, but increasing our ability to serve the deeper and more complex needs of today’s dealers. We have a full product suite to offer (Drive, Santander Auto Finance, RoadLoans and S-Guard) and we will leverage all these solutions to help dealers sell more cars.
We are particularly optimistic about our RoadLoans.com business and how that will benefit dealers this year. We have spent the last 18 months fine tuning the RoadLoans lead program and Preferred Dealer Network. Our lead quality has improved, and we saw a 200 percent increase in this business in 2010. A lot of dealers are showing interest in this program, and our sales and Web teams are excited to help connect them with customers. What are we doing to improve our service to you?
We still think that we can improve and streamline the funding process. One significant benefit from our acquisitions is the data we have acquired about our loan portfolios and our customers. We now have the ability to develop behavior scores based on applications, and then apply custom or “dynamic” stipulations. In other words, we will have the ability to only request the stips we truly need. We believe this will help dealers and, ultimately, speed up the funding process. We also want to continue to explore opportunities with independent dealers. After three years of recession, the independent dealers who are still in business are – for the most part – the strongest and most stable around. We will offer our finance program for the independent dealer that makes sense for both the dealer and for Santander. As we continue to refine and improve our service, we encourage your active participation. Please contact your sales representative to discuss your specific needs and expectations. We look forward to a mutually successful 2011.
Matt Fitzgerald
Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Santander Consumer USA
Dealers Find Ways to Make Money
By Andrew Brown
When it comes to boosting profits at the dealership, it’s all in the presentation.
“We offer customers a menu of packages, so they can pick and choose whatever they want,” says Alla Tripolsky, finance director at Osborn Automotive. The Lakewood, Colo., dealership starts by enticing car buyers with maintenance products. “If the customer prepays for oil changes, they get a discount. It certainly helps with customer retention,” she says, because customers who return for maintenance establish a relationship with the dealership. 
Last November, the dealership sold 108 cars, 68% of which were tied to maintenance products. “We guarantee ourselves that 74 of those 108 customers will come back,” she says.
“If we can get them in for an oil change, at some point theyhave to change that air filter,” she says. “They’ll have to change those tires.”
SELLING SERVICE
The maintenance offerings often have a trickle-down effect. If a customer has a particularly large bill or needs a new car, the salesperson can educate the customer about the dealership’s financing programs. Plus, the maintenance coverage is financed into the loan and has an added benefit of facilitating warranty sales. “We usually couple the maintenance products with extended service contracts, which help sell the service product,” Tripolsky says.
Osborn Automotive’s integrated sales and service process has paid off: half of the dealership’s business comes from repeat customers and referrals, she says.
ORDERING OFF THE MENU
Saturn of Lancaster uses the menu approach, too. Rather than just quoting a payment, the Lancaster, Pa., dealership relies on its salespeople to present finance and insurance options. “If you have a menu in front of [customers], you can talk them through it,” says John Anastos, the dealership’s F&I manager. “When a customer sees a description of what they get, the process is easier.”
The dealership, which sells about 90 cars per month, utilizes technology provider DealerTrack to create personalized menus for each customer. “You can show four options, you can show three options, multiple terms, and multiple interest rates,” Anastos says. “You can make it exactly what the customer is looking for.”
Since implementing the system in 2005, profits from ancillary sales have shot up 60%, he says.
Meanwhile, Osborn Automotive uses a similar software solution called MenuVantage. “It’s customizable, and it allows us to present 100% of the products to 100% of the customers,” Tripolsky says.
MINDING THE GAP
Among specific products, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) is one of the most profitable for dealers, especially as loan terms lengthen.
“I’m seeing more 72-month as opposed to 60-month loans, so due to that, GAP insurance is becoming more popular,” says Orlando Cadiz, finance manager at Phoenix Motor Co. The longer terms increase chances that cars may be totaled.
“It has a huge value to customers, and it’s a very easy sell,” Anastos says. “It’s not an expensive policy. Selling someone a $400 investment on a $30,000 loan is not too difficult.”
Plus, the longer the loan term, the higher the price for GAP coverage.
Some states restrict the amount that dealers can mark up the GAP coverage they sell, but not Pennsylvania, Anastos says. The average markup could be anywhere from 50% to 100%.
Smooth Sailing – A Clean Contract Package Benefits Everyone
By Laurie Kight
When it comes to the funding in auto finance, speed is still the name of the game. While dealers, lenders and consumers consistently list “fast funding” as a key driver of customer satisfaction, kicked contracts still hamper the deal process. Submitting a “clean” contract package is the number one thing dealers can do to lessen the time it takes to receive their funds from a lender.
Drive® dealers primarily submit applications for sub-prime consumers, which translates into multiple stips as part of the funding requirements. No doubt, stips are a hassle to gather, but they are an important part of the underwriting process because they help Drive better understand the risk of each applicant, and help predict future performance of the loan. Packages sent with missed or incomplete stips result in a funding delay. Understanding Drive’s requirements and reviewing a checklist prior to sending funding packages ensures that contracts can be funded as quickly as possible.
Top Five Ways to Improve Funding Time:
- Review your Drive callback. Stips vary by program, so be sure you check the callback carefully and gather all stips.
- Ensure all the required documents are in the package. This sounds simple, but it’s a frequent cause of delays. Documents that are often left out, but required include: the contract, odometer statement, Title documentation and insurance documentation.
- List a valid employment verification number. Drive verifies employment on 100 percent of its deals. If the customer is contacted by Drive, it is important that they return the phone call immediately. Employment verifications are a leading cause of funding delays.
- Provide a valid contact number for the applicant. Drive often conducts customer interviews prior to funding.
- Send the correct number of references. Check your call-back for the number of references requested, as they vary by program level. It is also important to send in a deal as soon as it can be packaged. Drive, like most lenders, has an approval expiration date. After the approval window has closed, the deal process must start again from the beginning.
To Review the Status of Your Deals, Visit:
http://dealer.drivefinancial.com
Contact your Area Sales Manager for your username/password.
Send all Funding Packages to:
Overnight
Drive Financial Services
ECP Program Dept. 2039
284 State Route 72N
Reesville, OH 45166
Regular U.S. Postal Service
Drive Financial Services
Suite 2039
3268 State Route 73
South-Building 12
Wilmington, OH 45177
Call Your Funding Team With Questions
Team 1
800.417.0905
(GA, HI, IA, ID, KY, ME, NC, VA)
Team 2
800.417.0925
(AR, CT, IL, MD, MI, NH, PA, WA, WI)
Team 3
800.417.0929 (ALL STATES)
Team 5
800.417.0933 (TX)
Team 7
800.417.1055
(AK, CA, CO, KS, MA, MO, ND, NE,
NM, NV, OK, SD, TN, WY)
Team 8
866.552.4520
(FL, IN, MN, MS, NY, OH, OR)
Driving Under the Speed Limit: Dealers and Lenders Slowly Embrace E-Contracting
By Bridget McCrea
For years, car dealers and lenders have been playing a chicken-and-egg game with e-contracting, a process of fulfilling car sales and funding electronically, instead of via fax and courier.
Dealers have said they are in favor of the technology, which lessens waiting times for loan fundings and streamlines the loan-application process, and are looking to lenders to push the process. Lenders have said they are in favor of the technology, but are waiting for dealers to ask for it.
The main sticking point to mass acceptance of e-contracting in the auto finance industry is dealer comfort with automating what has always been a paper-intensive process. For those that have embraced the change, there is no looking back.
FUNDING IN HOURS, NOT DAYS
It’s been about a year since Lia Infiniti of Latham, N.Y., purchased and installed its e-contracting system. During that time, John Greenhut, the dealership’s finance director, says the dealership has been able to streamline the application process, eliminate duplicate entries, and achieve quicker funding for customers. The learning curve was easy, says Greenhut, who now “gets funded in a few hours, instead of five days.”
Currently using the system for Infiniti purchases and leases, and for loans made through a national bank’s indirect auto finance unit, Greenhut says he wishes more lenders would get on board with e-contracting.
To streamline at least some of its auto loan processing, Lia Infiniti relies on a computer-driven delivery system that uses Electronic Retail Installment Sales Contracts (ERISCs) in place of paper-based Retail Installment Sales Contracts (RISCs). The former contain the same disclosures and are formatted like their paper cousins, but are looked upon as more “secure”since they cannot be altered once car buyers sign their names using a signature pad.
With e-contracting, those long contracts and fax machines become a thing of the past as the “application” is distributed to multiple lenders who, in turn, send back their financing offers. Developed by companies like DealerTrack and RouteOne, e-contracting is being slowly adopted by dealers and lenders nationwide.
But for every dealership that’s willing to forgo the paper and take the electronic route, there are many more that have steered clear of this new approach to financing. “I think dealers are scared of it,” says Greenhut. “It’s like someone coming in and saying that they’re going to install computers in an office where they’re still using adding machines.”
CUSTOMERS CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE
Yet customers hardly notice the difference between electronic and traditional contracts, except for the fact that they’re signing a little electronic box, says Greenhut. “I present a review copy to them, and once they agree to all the figures and terms, they simply sign the box.”
Bill Seidle’s Nissan in Miami was an early adopter of e-contracting back in 2004. Spurred by F&I Manager Andrea Forteleoni, who was on a mission to streamline the application process and reduce paperwork, the dealership saw the emerging technology as the “wave of the future,” despite the fact that many other dealers were wary of it at the time.
“People look at new things suspiciously, and the seasoned professionals who are used to doing things their own way don’t always welcome new technology with open arms,” says Forteleoni, who admits that e-contracting has both upsides and downsides. On a positive note, it speeds lender-approvals, enabling customers to receive their first statements in plenty of time for payment.
On the other hand, human input errors can bungle the sys- tem and create problems. “On my wish list for e-contracting is some type of computer check that ensures that the parameters, rates, and rate spreads” are inputted correctly, says Forteleoni.
As the business world strives to go paperless, expect to see even more dealers and lenders using e-contracting. “Once manufacturers like Toyota and Honda go into it in a major way, the dealers will be more apt to join in,” says Forteleoni. He adds that the overall consensus is that e-contracting will be fully developed in five years, although he predicts a shorter timeline. “The technology is there, it’s a just a matter of training and expanding the possibilities.”
Dealers Grapple With Changing Times in the Auto Finance Markets
By Bridget McCrea
Dealers are feeling the pinch as consolidation effects trickle through the market and lenders extend their reaches to broader swatches of car buyers.
Dealers cite a heightened risk aversion, inconsistent buying policies, and disregard for existing relationships among the difficulties they face from their lending counterparts.
For one thing, many prime lenders are just turning down marginal deals outright, rather than rehashing them, says John F. Stelly, owner and dealer principal at Nissan of Lake Charles in Louisiana. Subprime lenders are doing some rehashing, he observes, but with more stipulations required.
That means when Stelly submits a deal on a 2008 Nissan Altima these days for $22,000 in financing, he keeps his fingers crossed that the deal goes through as-is, and that it doesn’t come back with an offer for, say, $18,000. “If the borrower has marginal credit, I’ve traditionally been able to go back in and rehash the deal and get it done at $22,000,” says Stelly. “Over the last few months, lenders have been either refusing to rehash or have come up with a longer list of stipulations to protect themselves.”
To jump that hurdle, Stelly says his salespeople have been better qualifying buyers and matching them to cars they can actually afford. “Banks just aren’t aggressive on deals where someone is making $3,000 a month and looking for a $45,000 vehicle anymore,” says Stelly. “That income would qualify for a $20,000 car, tops.”
Different systems cause dealers consolidation headaches
Consolidation among providers is also making life tough for Stelly, who points to one particular merger as having significant impact on his dealership: the 2005 purchase of Hibernia Bank by Capital One Financial Corp. The former used a tier system and balked at credit scores lower than 600, he says, while the latter specialized in subprime deals.
When the two joined forces, Stelly and his customers fell prey to an automated system that turned down applications that Capital One previously would have approved. Then, a rush to fix the problem turned into an even bigger debacle that has since found the lender approving fewer loans.
“Capital One was turning down the sub-600 applications for about a month,” says Stelly. “Then, the newly merged firm got a little ‘too aggressive’ in approving those sub-600 loans and — over the last three months — has been cutting back on approving those deals.”
Jean Richard, who manages the subprime business for Headquarters Toyota in Miami, is dealing with his own set of hurdles in the lending market, begin- ning with the crossover of prime lenders into the subprime market, and vice versa. “Capital One is giving a rate of 5.4% on the prime side right now, but how long can they keep doing that?” asks Richard, who questions lenders’ new “one-stop-shop” mentality. Other lenders are offering prime borrowers loans with interest rates of about 7.25%.
Dealers resistant to change
The fact that subprime lending has also had somewhat of a “revolving door” — with lenders moving in and out of the market — has made dealers resilient to current market trends, according to Phil Villegas, head of the dealership consultancy at Miami-based CPA firm Morri- son, Brown, Argiz and Farra LLP. In constant contact with dealers nationwide, Villegas says most dealers are accustomed to fluctuations in funding and scoring criteria, with the on-again, off- again aggressiveness of specific lenders in the space.
But Brent Brown, president of the Brent Brown Automotive Group in Provo, Utah, says such inconsistencies are hard for dealers to swallow. To meet its goal of selling 700 to 800 cars per month, Brown’s dealership seeks out lenders that are consistent and reliable. “We’re in a business where we have to make educated guesses — to deliver a car at 9 p.m. on Thursday night, or not — based on past history with a lender,” says Brown. “We can’t have lenders bouncing all over the place.”
What also concerns dealers right now, says Villegas, is the tightening in subprime underwriting, similar to what’s taking place within the mortgage market. “Concern over possible delinquencies seems to have picked up some at larger subprime banks,” he says, though the late payments have not necessarily translated to higher repossession rates.
Used-car market hit hardest
Brown says used-car financing has been hit hardest by risk-aversion on the part of lenders, who are less apt to approve loans for credit-challenged buyers. “For a while, the prime lending sources were inching closer to what the subprime lenders were doing, and you could get C and B paper bought with the right criteria,” recalls Brown. “It’s tougher now, especially in the used-car market.”
Villegas, who previously worked for Ugly Duckling (now DriveTime), concurs, and says new-car dealers are often insulated from the challenges put forth by changing criteria within the subprime lending industry, namely because they aren’t purchasing cars to meet the needs of specific customers. “These dealers don’t do as much to maximize the programs of individual lenders,” says Villegas, referring to tactics like selling the merits of the program to customers. “Whereas the independent car dealers get squeezed when terms get standardized and lending standards tightened up as a result of consolidation.”
Stelly, who likes to work with lenders that consider recourse, income, and deal structure when lending money, strives to get bigger down payments out of customers whose credit may not be up to par. “If I can get $4,000 out of a customer, and if I’m financing $2,000 to $3,000 behind book value, then I expect the lender to take a shot,” he says.
From his lender relationships, Stelly also seeks recognition for previous deals done successfully. Lenders should consider each dealer’s portfolio and base decisions on those past sales, as opposed to the track record of specific customers. “Lenders should be more open-minded about recourse deals based on established relationships with dealers, regardless of what kind of mergers have taken place,” he adds.
Wary of one-stop shop
At Headquarters Toyota, Richard says he’s cautious of lenders who take the one-stop-shop approach to lending, mainly because prime and subprime deals differ. “In a subprime deal, we handle the paper differently, do a more thorough interview, and make sure the package is complete,” says Richard. “Everything has to check out, and there’s a lot more attention to detail.”
When that kind of legwork isn’t done on subprime loans, Richard says things can unravel pretty quickly, and may result in a phone call to a customer who must return a car driven off the lot a month earlier.
Despite his concern over the consolidation of prime and subprime lenders, Richard sees the current climate for lending as largely positive, and only getting better as other credit markets normalize in the next six to 12 months.
“Back in the early 1990s, we were very limited on the subprime side, and no one ever dreamed of being able to write a 72-month loan. Today banks are doing 84- and 96-month [loans] for people with good credit,” says Richard. “It just goes to show that it’s much easier to put someone in a car today than it was 15 years ago.”
What everyone is saying about Drive
Drive provides our dealership with an avenue to make incremental deals that would otherwise be missed through traditional lending programs. With the newest push to capture midrange paper, Drive is once again proving their competitive edge and interest in becoming every dealer’s “relationship lender.” Whether sub-prime or near-prime, Drive representatives are always willing to push hard to make deals.
At Alpine, we rarely miss a deal. That is why having the Drive connection is so important. On average, we make 10 to 15 deals each month with Drive that would have otherwise been missed. While the fees can be substantial, we rarely lose money on these transactions. Instead, we have happy, satisfied customers that spread the word that Alpine can do what other dealers can’t do – get them approved!
With people like Roger Glas, how could Drive fail? From the approval to funding, he is never more than a phone call away! People really do make the difference. Where other representatives are absent, Roger is a hands-on area sales manager. He visits regularly and stays until the problems, whatever they may be, are handled. I truly appreciate such attention to detail. For that, Alpine is proud to be a part of the Drive connection.
Julie Burney /// FINANCE MANAGER
ALPINE PONTIAC BUICK GMC
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The relationship we have with Drive Financial continues to grow as you show great determination to meet the needs of the sub-prime customer market. The diversification in programs to the One, Complete, Solution tiers gives us the opportunity to expand our business together.
The unique qualities you present to our dealership is the flexibility of the buyer to work a deal, the options you give with self-employed, employees and the ability to assist with our credit-challenged customers.
Our dealership experiences fast funding, which is a valuable benefit that we recognize and appreciate! Thank you for providing your service to help us generate new customers.
Paul Sweeny /// BUSINESS MANAGER
TAMPA HONDALAND
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I am excited about the new relationship we have started with Drive Financial. In the first month of working with you, we have funded nine deals!
Drive Financial offers us programs that meet the profile of our customers. I am very impressed with fast approvals and callbacks that we receive within moments of sending the applications. As a resourceful lender, we recognize the impact you are making to our business and customers.
We appreciate your service and relationship with us!
Ray Farhat /// SALES AND FINANCE MANAGER
BOULEVARD AUTO SALES
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Using Drive has been a big advantage for me because I have real people to work with. The system Drive uses is very user-friendly and the buyers and dealer reps are wonderful. I can remember several times a deal where I could not get in touch with my buyer but I was able to reach my rep (Merica) and she was able to get the problem solved immediately. If all the other banks would handle problems as fast and with as much effectiveness as Merica, the world would be a better place. Thanks for always being there when I need you.
Brennan Hammond /// SPECIAL FINANCE MANAGER
CR AIN KIA/CR AIN MAZDA LITTLE ROCK, AR
How Virtual Inventories can provide a real Advantage
By Peter Plazza
“You can’t take a salesperson from the front of the house and tell them they’re going to now sell cars online,” because the dynamics are so different. – John Foley, President, izmomedia
Dealers know that most customers research their car purchases online before buying. To some that may seem a risk since it adds more competition to the mix. But many dealers use the Web to lure and capture buyers by using virtual inventories.
John Kimel, who heads the Internet sales department at Lewis Motors in South Burlington, Vt., says he’s heard that as many as 95 percent of car buyers check online before they buy a car. Lewis Motors put a virtual inventory on its Web site five years ago, and kimel says it’s been a boon for business. “If you don’t have a good Web site and you’re not showing everything you need to be showing, such as inventory, specials, and your finance rates, you’re just telling people ‘Don’t bother shopping here,’” Kimel says.
Helping Small Dealerships Look Big
At the most basic level, virtual inventories simply show every car that’s available on a dealer’s lot, with automatic nightly updates from the Dealership Management System (DMS) as cars come in or are sold.
But virtual inventories can go further and show all makes and models that are available, with data updated directly from car manufacturers. These expanded inventories create an opportunity for small dealerships to gain customers, says Andy Flint, national sales executive with Tk Carsites, which creates Web sites with virtual inventories for dealerships.
“If somebody is on the Web site looking for a specific vehicle, if you don’t have it, they’re simply going to move on to the next Web site, so you’ve lost a potential client,” he says. By displaying all makes and models, many of which can be ordered, dealerships are not limited to selling whatever is currently on hand.
Virtual inventories help small dealerships compete with large dealerships without having to spend enormous amounts of money, says John Foley, publisher of izmomedia, which also builds virtual inventories and dealer Web sites.
“The first thing you have to do is get the dealer to realize that by creating an online store, he is actually opening up a new dealership. The difference is he doesn’t need land.”
“Hi, I’m Your Web Salesperson”
Foley explains that dealerships need to understand the difference between selling a car online and selling one in a showroom. “You can’t take a salesperson from the front of the house and tell them they’re going to now sell cars online,” because the dynamics are so different, he says. Izmo also offers sales training to help dealerships take advantage of Web-based opportunities.
Mark Heer, general sales manager at Sonnen Porsche in Mill Valley, Calif., says that having a virtual inventory helps sales. Sonnen’s virtual inventory has been active since the dealership opened in 2002.
Virtual inventories are also lead-generation tools. Flint says that individual Web products start at approximately $100 per month, with full packages ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars monthly, depending on variables such as the number of brands being sold. Getting sites up and running does not require extensive technical know-how; ‘off the shelf’ software can be plugged into the DMS and running in three business days.
Online inventories help dealers generate leads and compete for customers who are researching their purchases online before they buy. “People’s buying habits have changed, and that means our selling habits have to change,” kimel says. Putting a virtual inventory in place can help dealerships make that transition.
How to make sure your Lenders will be there when you need Them
By Bridget McCrea
The credit crisis is pressuring car dealers on a number of fronts, as they sell into an economic headwind while also facing concerns from customers related to escalating fuel prices. Many lenders, meanwhile, have cut back on their loan programs or tightened conditions for customers to qualify for loans, exacerbating what is already a perilous time for car dealers. It’s a far cry from just a few years ago, when lenders were much more lenient when it came to doling out cash for just about any type of large purchase.
The changes made by lenders have redrawn the map for dealer-lender relationships, forcing dealers to examine their current funding rosters and to send them looking for new sources. Borrowers with less-than-perfect credit have become particularly difficult to finance in recent months, thanks to fallout from the subprime mortgage market meltdown.
Take the auto dealer who, in searching for a lender, was recently told that the lender would only originate loans if the balance was under $8,000. “From the dealer’s perspective, that wasn’t something he could even build a business on,” says Payam Zamani, CEO and chairman of San Ramon, Calif.-based online financing marketplace Reply.com, and founder of Autoweb.com. Zamani expects more dealers to steer clear of subprime deals over the coming months — a trend that could present an opportunity for those dealers with solid, existing relationships with lenders that specialize in the subprime market.
Layoff Uncertainty
At Bill Gray Volvo in Pittsburgh, finance manager Lisa Schaum is concerned about a number of subprime lenders that have laid off thousands of dealer reps — a sign, she says, that fewer deals are being closed. And while her firm does much of its business with Volvo Finance, she says dealers in her area are reporting 25 or more application turndowns per month right now.
“I have people who are making $200,000 to $300,000 a year, and I can’t get them approved,” says Schaum. “Even income doesn’t seem to be able to balance out those credit challenges.” For now, she plans to stick with her current group of lenders, while keeping a close eye on those firms’ willingness and ability to finance deals. “No one has a crystal ball,” says Schaum, “but going forward, I think we’re all going to have to re-evaluate our lenders.”
That means going back to the drawing board and figuring out which lenders will be most likely to approve applications. Jeff Bennett, a former owner of Chevrolet and Toyota dealerships, and currently an assistant professor at Northwood University in Midland, Mich., says dealers need to go beyond the traditional “What is the lender going to do for me?” question, and instead consider what the lender should do for individual applicants.
So whereas approvals appeared to rain down from the heavens in the past, especially when using long-time lender-partners, these days lenders are looking more closely at the individual applicants, rather than the dealers. Mike Sheridan, president and founder of Los Angeles-based auto loan exchange Global Debt Network, says this shift warrants dealers to take a more diverse approach to lender evaluation, and to consider numerous options that can accommodate a wider range of buyers.
When assessing those lenders, Sheridan says dealers should look at how each has reacted in the past during both good and bad times. “Put lenders to the fire a bit,” he says. “Find out how good they are at supporting their customers and/or helping them find other relationships within their own organizations, or at outside entities.”
Lender due Diligence
Dealers must also talk to one another to figure out which lenders are most apt to approve applicants, Sheridan says. “Lenders complete due diligence on the individual dealers,” he says, “and I think dealers need to start doing the same with their lenders.” key points to discuss include the lender’s turndown record, application requirements, record of approving subprime loans, and record for deactivating dealers.
“Deactivation has become a very common practice during the past year, particularly for dealers that aren’t sending enough business to the lender,” says Sheridan. Deactivated dealers should immediately call the financing company to find out the reasons behind the decision, and then work to rectify the situation. If, for example, a lender pulls the plug because it feels a dealer isn’t meeting expected deal levels, then it may be time for the latter to reassess just how important that lender is for the company, and whether the relationship is worth saving.
The Stress Factor
Sheridan says dealers should also look to open lines of communication with lenders and make them two-way streets, despite the fact that they haven’t histori- cally worked that way. “Go back and ask them what’s going on in their business, whether they’re tightening up lending standards and how those changes will affect internal underwriting practices,” says Sheridan. “With financial institutions under a tremendous amount of stress right now, the smart dealers are picking up the phone to find out what’s going on.”
Going forward, expect to see tighter lending practices forcing dealers to continue re-evaluating the financial institutions that their customers do business with. By taking proactive measures when working with new and prospective lenders — and when structuring the deals themselves — Sheridan says dealers can be better prepared to handle any changes that come their way. “This is going to force dealers to react quickly,” he says. “Hopefully the close relationships they have with their lenders will see them through, otherwise it could result in further funding problems.”