Finance & Insurance

Credit unions ceded market share to automaker lenders wielding aggressive incentives in the spring. But used-vehicle lending remains a bright spot for credit unions amid the coronavirus pandemic as used-car values skyrocket. All non-captive auto financing companies forfeited market share to automaker lenders boasting 0 percent interest, seven-year car loans …

TO THE EDITOR: The Bloomberg article “Startup Digital Motors looks to give dealerships online chops” (autonews.com, Aug. 17) unwittingly fell into the free advertising trap by reporting a solution that has nothing new to offer and has the same flaws that make numerous other digital retailing solutions counterproductive to what …

Chevrolet dealer Kris Cox struggled to obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan through a bank his dealership had worked with for decades. But less than a week after he contacted GM Financial, Cox received the funds for his store. “I didn’t really know that a captive could help dealers in …

DealerPolicy, a digital insurance platform that allows customers to compare quotes for car insurance while still in the dealership, is adding a mobile option, the company said last week. The expansion comes during increased remote and digital change in dealerships as the nation copes with the coronavirus pandemic. The tool, …

Finance and insurance managers aren’t likely going anywhere, according to one industry expert. But at what point in the sales process they’re introduced may shift based on changes expedited by the coronavirus pandemic. Jim Houston, managing director of consumer lending and automotive finance at J.D. Power, said on a webinar …

The National Automobile Dealers Association submitted renewed objections to the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed Safeguards Rule amendments, which beef up requirements for financial institutions to protect consumer data. In a periodic review of its data protection guidelines, the federal watchdog proposed in March 2019 several amendments governing what steps financial …

Recent research by Cox Automotive’s Xtime found that 63 percent of customers are unable to pay for a $ 500 auto repair out of pocket, and that 29 percent of primary service recommendations and 71 percent of additional work go unsold because of customers’ lack of funds. There have long …

A three-store Ohio dealer is bringing to market an in-store digital tool that aims to expedite all of the pre-delivery paperwork of a car deal. The product, ZipDeal, shows customers finance-and-insurance product options and solicits online reviews for the dealership, increasing penetration of those products and enticing interested buyers to …

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized how consumers can secure pre-qualification for an auto loan online.  Vehicle listings company CarGurus is expanding the financing component of its vehicle shopping platform through an integration with RouteOne, CarGurus said last week during a call with analysts. The feature, which …