Automotive News - February 11, 2008 - (Page 72) 72 • FEBRUARY 11, 2008 finance & insurance GMAC Insurance adds products to get business from non-GM dealers Donna Harris dharris@crain.com Starting lineup Products introduced in the past year by GMAC Insurance Dent Restore Plus GAP Care Advantage IntelliMenu IntelliTracker Repair Advantage Sales Driver Vehicle One Primary GAP Garage liability for dealerships Source: GMAC Insurance Announcing! GMAC Insurance is stepping up its efforts to broaden its product mix and extend its services beyond General Motors dealerships. As part of its expansion plan, GMAC Insurance is building its own sales force. It also is providing more training and consulting to dealerships. The insurer, a division of GMAC Financial Services, has introduced several major products in the past year. They include a vehicle service contract program for non-GM dealers and guaranteed automotive protection, or GAP, insurance. “This is a change in strategy,” says Mike McHugh, senior vice president of sales for GMAC Insurance’s dealer products and services group. “We’re assisting dealers on a storelevel basis to improve their overall business.” GMAC Insurance has hired 100 field employees and intends to add 50. The company employs about 3,800 worldwide. The insurer used to rely on GMAC’s financial arm to distribute its products in the field. Since last spring, it has handled its own distribution. GMAC’s Mike McHugh: “We’re assisting dealers on a store-level basis to improve their overall business.” and insurance products, and IntelliTracker, software that monitors vehicle sales. The software comes with the insurer’s consulting and training services. The electronic F&I menu lists all products and services available at a dealership. It can include competing service plans, but McHugh says dealer customers must commit to a minimum sales level for the General Motors Protection Plan. Both new products are available at no charge to dealers through a partnership between GMAC Insurance and the software developer MenuVantage. McHugh says the insurer also can track the performance of dealership F&I managers. The menu software indicates how much of each product a manager sells. Says McHugh: “If the dealership presents products in a more consistent way, they can improve their overall product penetration and make more money.” c ISTOCK PHOTO Beyond GM Last fall, GMAC Insurance introduced the service contract program aimed at non-GM dealers, called Repair Advantage. The insurer models the program after GMAC’s General Motors Protection Plan, which is offered exclusively to GM dealers. The guaranteed automotive protection plan, GAP Care Advantage, is new for GM and non-GM dealers. The coverage pays a car or truck owner the difference between the vehicle’s cash value and loan balance if the vehicle is wrecked or stolen. McHugh says GMAC Insurance has signed up hundreds of non-GM dealers for the new products but declined to be specific. The company has more than 6,000 GM dealer clients, he adds. The company also has introduced: Dent Restore Plus, one- to five-year contracts that cover minor dent repair. Vehicle One Primary GAP, coverage offered through GMAC Insurance’s subsidiary, Universal Warranty Corp. Sales Driver, a Web-based process for Universal-affiliated dealers to sell service contracts. Garage liability commercial insurance for dealerships. Menu selling GMAC Insurance’s newest products for GM dealerships are IntelliMenu, an online menu of finance GE Money — Warranty Services is now part of the Chrysler Financial steps up e-contracting Donna Harris dharris@crain.com Calif. OKs more aftermarket product sales SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A new California law expands the aftermarket for finance and insurance products. The law, which took effect Jan. 1, makes it easier for auto dealerships to make separate sales of maintenance plans; tire, wheel or glass replacement; and dent and ding repairs. Large aftermarket vendors such as Zurich and SafeGuard lobbied for the measure. “Before the law changed, these products could only be sold as part of a service contract,” says Glenn Roberts, F&I brand executive for Zurich. “When sold separately, the state classified them as a type of insurance, which meant they were more tightly regulated and difficult to sell,” Roberts says. Peter Welch, president of the California Motor Car Dealers Association, says the vendors’ support helped enact “a good piece of legislation for California automobile dealers.” In a new report, Fitch blames the “waning health of the economy” and the auto retail industry’s trend toward loans longer than 60 months. Leasing companies will meet ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Vehicle Leasing Association will hold its annual conference June 11-14 at the J.W. Marriott Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Ariz. Conference speakers include Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research; Tom Kontos, vice president of industry relations and analytical services for the vehicle auction company ADESA Inc.; and Charles Vogelheim, vice president of J.D. Power and Associates. Wachovia Dealer Services Family Together we offer a comprehensive suite of F&I after-market products, providing end-to-end solutions for the financial needs of your customers. Chrysler Financial says it is nearing the finish line in its effort to introduce electronic contracting nationally. The captive finance company expects to make its eContract program available to all Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers by April. The company predicts that it will process one in four of its vehicle loans and leases electronically in 2008. Last year, Chrysler Financial handled only a small percentage of contracts online. E-contracting makes the financing process quicker and more accurate, says Kelly Mankin, Chrysler Financial’s vice president of marketing. Those improvements make dealers and customers happier, he says. “We’ve seen significant growth in our online credit applications over the past few years,” Mankin says. “Online transactions are growing, driven by younger consumers.” Chrysler Financial also is rolling out an automated system called AutOrigination, which helps reduce errors in contracts. The system will be available to 95 percent of Chrysler LLC dealers by the end of 2008, Mankin says. Chrysler Financial now can generate the first payment coupon automati- Chrysler Financial’s Kelly Mankin: “Online transactions are growing, driven by younger consumers.” Chrysler Financial predicts that it will process one in four of its vehicle loans and leases electronically in 2008. cally with an electronic contract. The new coupon gives customers their account number, payment amount and date and payment options, along with contact information for Chrysler Financial. Electronic contracting speeds financing in the dealership and paves the way for financing vehicles via the Internet. To encourage online business, Chrysler Financial has improved its Web security procedures. Access to the Chrysler Financial Web sites now requires a consumer-created user name and password. c Electronic signature service debuts ORLANDO, Fla. — The software company MenuVantage has introduced an electronic signature and e-contracting service for aftermarket vendors that supply auto dealerships with products such as vehicle service contracts. MenuVantage says e-contracting can reduce errors in contracts and speed aftermarket product sales. American Financial and Automotive Services Inc., of Houston, will be the first vendor to offer the service. American Financial has 1,100 dealership customers. MenuVantage, of Orlando, provides dealerships an electronic menu to present finance and insurance products to customers. Study: Auto loan losses will rise NEW YORK — Fitch Ratings, a service that grades debt such as vehicle loans, says it expects auto loan losses to increase in 2008.
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