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EFG Companies

EFG Attracts Top Finance and Accounting Executives

DALLAS, TX (October 22, 2019) EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced the hiring of two financial professionals who, with their combined 50 years of experience, will provide a valuable resource in EFG’s efforts to innovate new solutions for its automotive retail dealers, lenders, and agents. Neha Parikh assumes the role of Chief Financial Officer and Ben Cantrell, CPA will serve as Vice President, Treasurer and Controller.

As CFO, Neha Parikh brings almost 30 years of experience in financial management at Fortune 100 and mid-size companies to her role.  At EFG, Neha will utilize her extensive experience in financial and business planning, resource allocation, and financial reporting to provide strategic direction, decision-support, and leadership for EFG’s accounting and financial planning division. Neha’s managerial and consulting experience spans companies like GoDaddy, ADP, Verint, Cox Enterprises and AT&T, where she served in various capacities ranging from Executive Director to Business Unit CFO. She received her MBA in Finance from San Jose State University, and her BBA in Financial Accounting from Mumbai University.

Ben Cantrell brings two decades of experience in finance, accounting, operations and retail automotive to his role as Vice President, Treasurer and Controller. In this role, Ben will analyze complex processes and systems to plan and implement dynamic solutions with a focus on cost savings and cash flow optimization.  Prior to EFG, he served as Chief Financial Officer for Seniority, Inc., and for Senior Quality Lifestyles Corporation. Ben also served as Audit Supervisor for Lane Gorman Trubitt, PLLC, and as Staff Accountant for RSF Partners. Ben is a certified public accountant and received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University. He also received an MS in Accounting and his MBA in Accounting and Corporate Finance from the University of Dallas.

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EFG Companies

EFG Spearheads F&I Choice with Signature Finish Elite Appearance Protection

EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced the launch of Signature Finish® Elite Appearance Protection, designed to boost customer satisfaction and dealership PRU by providing more appearance protection options. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/2kjihg4.

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EFG Companies Electric Vehicles F&I

Are You Optimized for EV?

Eric Fifield Chief Sales Officer EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Eric Fifield
Chief Sales Officer
EFG Companies

Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining traction in retail automotive. According to Forbes, the U.S. passed 1 million total EVs sold in 2018. Looking forward, consumers expect to have more choices in EVs, as automakers announce expansions of their product offering.  2019 marks the first year the average battery range for all models is greater than 200 miles. While analysts do not believe 2019 will be an inflection point for EVs, they do expect costs to continue to drop. Lithium-ion battery prices have decreased an estimated 80% since 2010, and are expected to fall another 45% by 2021. As battery prices decline, vehicle prices should decrease, especially since battery costs currently compose nearly half the price of an EV.

In the F&I office and service drive, EVs pose a different challenge. Historically, warranty administrators underwrite the risk of mechanical breakdown in automobiles so that consumers don’t have to worry about those unanticipated financial shocks. Service contracts are priced based on the likelihood of each part failing times a projected cost to replace the part.  In other words, the price of the service contract implicitly includes an assumption around the probability that, say, a fuel injection pump might fail and what it would likely cost to replace it.

For traditional internal combustion engines (ICEs), administrators have decades of data on part failure specific for every vehicle model. Every time an OEM rolls out a new drive train, administrators reprice the risk in the coverage and begin building loss history. EVs are a different story, with far fewer mechanical parts and a tremendously expensive battery that can stop the vehicle in its tracks. Because ICEs are totally different technology from EVs, offering the same coverage on both really doesn’t make sense. Because of this, EFG Companies recently released a new Motorist Assistance Plan for Electric Vehicles (MAP® Electric Vehicle Protection) to exclusively cover the unique technology of EVs.