Category: Featured

Categories
EFG Companies F&I Featured

EFG and AFG Partner to Expand Balloon Financing with DrivingSense™

Hybrid financing product gives consumers the protection of a lease, lower fees and a title that is in their name.

EFG Companies, the innovators behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced today a strategic partnership with Auto Financial Group to increase market share for its DrivingSense™ program, a highly relevant, post-recession consumer finance product.

DrivingSense is a residual based, walk-away, balloon loan program that provides consumers a more friendly financing option with no down-payment and lower monthly payments. Currently, residual-based financing accounts for almost 30 percent of the new vehicle market. While consumers look to their financial institutions for the best rates on conventional loans, they frequently choose captives or other competitors for residual-based financing options. With DrivingSense, financial institutions are now positioned to recapture those consumers’ loans by providing a credible residual-based financing option from a source they trust.

“Lenders and Dealerships are hungry for new financing programs that increase sales and loan volume by directly addressing the consumer needs” said Stephen Roennau, Vice President, EFG Companies’ Transcend Group. “With that in mind, DrivingSense is primed to tip the market.”

To understand DrivingSense, consider the difference between balloon financing and leasing. With balloon financing, consumers can make a very low down payment, or have no down payment at all. They get the vehicle’s title in their name and agree to make small monthly payments over the term of the loan. The last payment, known as the balloon or residual, is one large payment at the end of the term that pays off the loan.

Consumers typically have three options prior to loan maturity and at loan maturity:

  • trade in the vehicle, i.e. sell it and use the vehicles end-of-term value to pay off the loan;
  • refinance the vehicle; or,
  • pay the vehicle off and keep it.

DrivingSense provides the same protection to the consumer as a lease with the guaranteed future value, but the vehicle is titled in the consumer’s name giving them the tax benefits of balloon financing. DrivingSense also has lower fees than traditional leasing and lower costs for excess mileage.

“We approached EFG not only because of their demonstrated success in implementing distinctive market-differentiation programs and customized training, but also because of their strong engagement model,” said Richard Epley, CEO, Auto Financial Group. “EFG understands how to successfully position game-changing products and penetrate the market aggressively.”

AFG is partnering with EFG to provide ongoing training for their lenders and their indirect dealership clients to increase their market-share in residual-based lending with DrivivingSense. EFG is developing a behaviorally-based guided-discovery training curriculum for market implementation. The hands on training includes how to present the DrivingSense option to consumers and how to quote payments using AFG’s user-friendly customized web-based CarBuilder calculator.

DrivingSense is available on both new and pre-owned vehicles up to 4 years old. With mileage terms of 12,000, 15,000 and 18,000 and finance terms of 24-72 months DrivingSense will make sense to any consumer!

Contact EFG to find out more about this ground-breaking partnership!

Categories
Dealership Marketing Featured

Is Your Brand Working for You Online?

Online Reputation ManagementOne of the biggest challenges dealerships face is convincing the consumer to get out from behind the computer and walk through their showroom floor. When nameless, faceless customers are researching and talking about you and your competitors without your knowledge, how can you address their wants and needs and incentivize them to choose your dealership for their business?

It is understandable to focus your efforts on what you know and can control. You know how to price, structure your inventory, and train your team to provide the best customer service. You are familiar with mail-outs, TV spots, and radio and newspaper ads because you’ve had decades to work with them. You know what to expect when it comes to return on investment and how to work within each of these mediums. However, these traditional mediums are losing traction in influencing your customer base.

According to a recent study from Automotive News:

  • 49% of customers base their car buying decisions based on online research.
  • 45% of online buyers visit dealership websites before walking on to a lot

It’s time to stop fearing the unknown and become knowledgeable directors of your online reputation. You are probably already engaging in some aspects of digital marketing. You may have an email campaign, and maybe even social media and SEO campaigns. But do you know what’s working and how your dealership ranks online compared to your competitors?

Online reputation management can be more than intimidating, but with over 35 years of consumer insights with EFG works with you to reallocate where your advertising and marketing dollars can be best utilized to generate a higher ROI. Our integrated communications plans include implementing differentiated messages in all modes of communication, designed to generate leads, facilitate customer loyalty, and significantly impact a higher degree of word of mouth.

  • With EFG Insights, our email management tool, we use strategic processes to identify and target the right audience for the right messages, enhancing email communications from a shot in the dark to directing qualified leads and driving customer loyalty.

If you are ready to take your online reputation to the next level, contact us today.

Categories
Dealership Training EFG Companies Featured

Leasing is Booming. Is Your Team Taking Advantage of It?

Contributing Author: Stephen RoennauAccording to a recent article by the Associated Press, even though interest rates are low, many consumers are still choosing to lease their new car or truck rather than buy.

“Lenders have seen overall stability come back to the market since the recession and leasing has gradually returned as a larger part of many lender strategies,” said Melinda Zabritski, senior director of automotive credit at Experian Automotive.  With leasing on the upswing, the market is predicted to double in the next year.

With OEMs releasing their lease incentives this fall, it’s time to make sure your team is fully prepped for taking advantage of this fast-moving trend and increase future sales opportunities.

While sales business will always remain the backbone of a dealership, you know there is no business Leasing-on-the-rise-Callout lease business, especially with August lease incentives around the corner:

  • Leases keep customers returning to the dealership like clockwork for their service appointments
  • Leases help maintain an inventory of recent-model used cars
  • Leases have the significant opportunity to create customers for life

But, does your team have the knowledge and tools to close a lease?

With over 35 years of insight into the consumer mindset in the auto retail space, EFG’s Transcend Group knows how to train your team to readily position the benefits of leasing while understanding their individual benefits of closing a lease and the bigger picture of dealership profitability.

Find out more about our Lease Training Workshop and register today!