John Huetter

The Feds' first rate cuts since the start of the pandemic could lead more customers to refinance out of the indirect car loans arranged by auto dealerships into new, cheaper loans with different lenders.

Consumers last month reported having a harder time getting an auto loan than applicants a year earlier, a result which capped off the toughest auto loan market in at least 11 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Survey of Consumer Expectations.

BMW Group Financial Services Canada President and CEO Nicolas Leduc will become president and CEO of the Porsche captive finance company Jan. 13.

Car protection product provider Safe-Guard Products International this fall named newcomer Darin Cline COO and promoted Joe Zhang, Safe-Guard’s vice president of strategy and analytics, to CFO. It also promoted Alen Gong to a newly created chief risk officer role.

Used-vehicle monthly payments continued to decline in the third quarter as buyers financed smaller amounts at lower interest rates, according to Experian.

Credit Union Leasing of America President Ken Sopp encouraged dealerships to take the time to run transactions through its payment comparison tool. A better deal might be available, but some dealerships aren't even checking, he said.

Chase Auto in 2024 grew its capacity to “auto-book” vehicle loans and send dealerships the money for the deal extremely quickly, and the lender sees this capability continuing in 2025, an executive said. It’s one of multiple auto lending strategies the bank has introduced in recent years, according to Michael Douglas, Chase Auto head of dealer services, who outlined some of these initiatives in a Dec. 12 interview.

AutoCanada will pay $20 million to settle allegations of bait-and-switch pricing, fake reviews and hidden or misrepresented finance and insurance

Retailers should pay attention to the forms they use in an auto deal, keeping tabs on both the paperwork’s content and its execution, according to a dealership attorney.

The FTC and Maryland attorney general’s office sued Lindsay Automotive Group and some of its leaders, accusing the Washington, D.C.-area group of failing to honor advertised prices and deceptive F&I behavior.