Automotive News - December 1, 2008 - (Page 22) 22 • DECEMBER 1, 2008 INSIGHT Tougher duty Dealers must work harder to sell cars to customers with shaky credit. In October, auto lenders approved only 14.3% of subprime consumer loan applications, according to CNW Marketing Research. That’s down dramatically from 26.1% in July and 47.1% in April. 100% Persuading lenders to approve loans for subprime customers has become a “much more personal” effort, says Paul Dodenhoff, general sales manager of Power Nissan in suburban Los Angeles. LINDA FORD % of subprime new-car loans approved in U.S. 80 60 40 20 0 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT Source: CNW Marketing Research SUBPRIME Credit unions offer another option continued from Page 20 somebody who has cultivated a relationship with a lender is in the forefront,” says Asbury’s Robinson. DeYoung says AmeriCredit favors dealerships that understand what type of consumer AmeriCredit is looking for and the lender’s specific requirements. “Because we’ve decreased our origination targets, we focus more on dealerships that provide us with the most effective way of originating loans,” DeYoung says. AmeriCredit’s loan origination has fallen dramatically. In July through September, loan origination was $579 million, compared with $2.4 billion for the same period in 2007, DeYoung says. Credit unions are another place to look for subprime financing, Toprak says. They tend to look less at credit scores and more at personal relationships, he says. “There are a lot of advantages to someone who has less-than-perfect credit to try to go through a credit union,” Toprak says. Credit unions’ share of the total retail automotive lending market rose from 17.8 percent in September 2007 to 20.8 percent in September 2008, according to AutoCount, an Experian company. Still, subprime loans account for less than 6 percent of all auto loans for credit unions, says Bill Meyer, a spokesman for CUDL, a provider of point-of-purchase lending for credit unions. Some captives — most famously GMAC Financial Services — have stopped lending to all but the best customers. Others say their criteria for lending haven’t changed but admit they are shying away from subprime customers. “We’ve pulled back some when it comes to customers who have been impacted by the current economy,” says Kerry Rivera, a spokesman for Toyota Financial Services. Banks such as Wachovia are doing limited subprime lending, dealers say. Dodenhoff tells of a Power Nissan customer who had missed a mortgage payment, so Wachovia refused to finance him. But the customer eventually did get the loan. Says Dodenhoff: “I told them to look at his history. The whole business has become much more personal.” c http://www.protective.com/dealerservices http://www.protective.com/dealerservices
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