Categories
Business Growth F&I

A Revolution is Coming

Mark Rappaport President Simplicity Division EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Mark Rappaport
President
Sinplicity Division
EFG Companies

Can you remember the last time you walked into a fast food restaurant and they filled your drink order? It was a short few years ago when the restaurants started handing you a cup and you dispensed the ice and your drink of choice.  The shift happened as consumers demanded a better, quicker experience.  Now, order kiosks are being introduced to eliminate further wait time.

While established dealership vendors have built iPad and Docupad platforms to improve the overall customer experience in the transition to F&I, this segment of F&I technology is about to burst with robust competitive offers. Startups are now beginning to appear on the scene with full online financing capabilities. In addition, manufacturers are now investing in online financing technology.

In December of last year, AutoNation launched its first online financing offering, allowing customers to value a trade-in vehicle, determine payments and apply for credit.

In June, CarMax, Inc., the biggest U.S. used car dealer, announced the rollout of a new online financing initiative to help customers pre-qualify for financing before entering the dealership.

In October, Automotive News reported on a dealership in California that was using Express Storefront, an online-buying platform from Roadster that allows shoppers to select a vehicle, get approved for credit, sift through F&I options, and set up vehicle delivery.

Even Equifax is dipping their toe in the online financing product market. This past month, John Giamalvo, the vice president of dealer services at Equifax, spoke at the National Remarketing Conference, discussing his company’s soft-pull tab for dealership websites that allows customers to get a free credit report without affecting their credit. In his presentation, Giamalvo stated that he sees growing evidence that car shoppers are ready to do more of the financing process online.

Also in November, a partnership between Drive Motors, RouteOne and Dealertrack made headlines with a collaboration that resulted in an online checkout feature for dealership websites. The feature allows customers to structure their deal online before finalizing and taking delivery of the vehicle. This creates a 24/7 sales funnel, where customers submit their information at any time of day or night. The information automatically populates into the dealership’s Dealertrack and RouteOne platforms, saving an enormous amount of time in the store.

Categories
Economy F&I

Navigating the Perfect Storm

Brien Joyce Vice President EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Brien Joyce
Vice President
EFG Companies

One of the hot topics at the 2016 NADA Convention was the much debated subprime bubble in relation to rising delinquency rates. Again, industry experts worked to calm everyone’s nerves about Fitch Ratings’ latest report, which brought to everyone’s attention that as of February, 60-day delinquencies had risen to 5.16 percent, the highest rate since 1996. Even so, experts have once again stated that there is no bubble and delinquency rates are rising at a healthy level in conjunction with vehicle sales.

However, with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points this past December, and the expectation that rates will rise again later this year, it can be posited that lenders will tighten restrictions within the subprime space. The last thing anyone wants is for higher interest rates to coincide with rising delinquency rates, creating a perfect storm that could potentially cause that debatable bubble to pop.

As you evaluate your portfolio risk and determine the best go-forward plan to maintain your market share, consider looking at avenues outside of those traditional lending benefits commonly used by the industry, like APR. While the industry has typically competed for ground on APR, lenders, especially in the subprime space, often have their hands tied on how low they can go due to Federal Reserve rate increases and portfolio risk.

Categories
Business Growth F&I

Don’t Let Delinquency Keep You Down

Mark Rappaport President EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Mark Rappaport
President
Simplicity Division
EFG Companies

Currently, the headlines are offering a lot of doom and gloom for the subprime auto finance market with regards to rising auto loan delinquency rates and the sheer amount of subprime paper.

According to the February Equifax National Consumer Credit Trends Report, 21.7 percent of all auto loans originated between January and November, 2015 were issued to consumers considered to be in the subprime market.

This marks the fourth year where the subprime segment accounted for between 21 and 22 percent of all auto loans.

In addition, Fitch Ratings reported that in February, 60-day delinquencies experienced a 12 percent year-over-year increase, bringing the delinquency rate to 5.16 percent. This is the highest delinquency rate since October, 1996. To put this into perspective, delinquencies peaked at 5.04 percent during the 2008 financial crisis.