Finance & Insurance

More is revealed during the weeks of a crisis than through all the years of business as usual. From the ides of March onward, U.S. dealerships have experienced unprecedented setback after unprecedented setback. This past week saw the growth of the latest setback — sales have plummeted and thousands of …

LOS ANGELES — Mazda launched its new captive financing arm Wednesday, Mazda Financial Services, and immediately rolled out payment deferrals for consumers and dealers struggling with the sales downturn. The captive is a partnership with Toyota Motor Credit Corp., one of the biggest auto financiers in the U.S. Mazda expects …

GM Financial is putting much of the deal structure into F&I managers’ hands to speed up the car-financing process and make financing available to dealers and most customers any time of day. GM Financial’s Approval Center tool allows dealers to adjust the deal structure after General Motors’ captive approves customers’ …

Finance and insurance offices have long been considered the keepers of compliance at dealerships. Panic over lost profits amid closures and social distancing edicts, necessary for containing the spread of the novel coronavirus, is prodding many dealerships to embrace remote sales either for the first time or at higher levels. …

The U.S. is galloping toward a recession spurred by the coronavirus outbreak. But this time, dealers say automaker and captive lender partners have responded to the financial crisis much quicker than they did to the last one. Dealer impact from the pandemic, according to auto finance experts, appears to be …

Automaker captives and banks are reaching out to customers impacted by the coronavirus, offering payment deferral that could generate some otherwise lagging traffic at dealerships. Historically, financial assistance breeds consumer loyalty — but will it be enough to move metal? Playing a long game that prizes loyalty over short-term losses …

DETROIT — GM Financial is giving dealers a break on some floorplan payments to help mitigate the effect of the novel coronavirus on their businesses. General Motors’ captive is temporarily waiving curtailments, which is the principal a dealer owes to pay down floorplan inventory that sits on the lot longer …

General Motors is responding to the coronavirus crisis with a plan reminiscent of the Keep America Rolling initiative it used to jump-start sales after the 9/11 attacks nearly two decades ago. GM is launching a sweeping program aimed at keeping Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac owners safe and connected and …

The Federal Reserve’s decision to cut the benchmark interest rate half a percentage point early this month was probably just a first step, analysts and economists say. To reduce the risk that the coronavirus will trigger a recession, analysts are predicting the rate — which directly impacts auto finance interest …