P&A Online

August 31, 2011

Welcome to P&A Online, a monthly eMagazine dedicated to the interests and concerns of providers and administrators of automotive finance and insurance products.

P&A Online is your source for industry news and updates as well as original feature articles to keep you well-informed of best practices and trends.

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Trade-In Value Guarantee Opens a New Marketing Approach for Lenders, Dealers, and Manufacturers

A trade-in guarantee program, when first viewed, may look like a lease-end, keep-the-vehicle value program for purchased vehicles. The basic promise is simple enough: an obligor promises the vehicle buyer a minimum resale value if the vehicle buyer replaces the vehicle during a specified replacement time window. Trade-in guarantee programs, however, are marketing programs. In ... Read More »

Connecting Providers, Administrators and Dealers: e-Commerce - Part 3 of 4

Gaining industry insight from e-Commerce companies PEN, F&I Express and DealerTrack Aftermarket Network. In part 3 of our connectivity series, P&A will be profiling three companies - PEN, F&I Express and DealerTrack Aftermarket Network - that facilitate e-Commerce; e-Commerce defined as the means to rate, contract, and submit aftermarket products electronically. In our first article, ... Read More »

Interview with Jim Ganther, President of the F&I Providers and Administrators Association

P&A Magazine sat down with Jim Ganther, President of the F&I Providers and Administrators Association (FIPAA), to explore how this new association will be contributing to the industry. The following interview discusses how the association was founded, key members, goals of the association and much more. What was the impetus behind the Association? Ongoing conversations ... Read More »

VSCAC 2011 Preview

It's hard to believe another year has passed and the 2011 VSCAC is less than a month away! A few months back, I was invited to be the emcee, and I am looking forward to another great show. For those who have never attended, I would strongly urge you to make it a priority. It ... Read More »

F&I Administration Solutions Signs Auto Knight Motor Club Onto SCS Auto

CHICAGO – F&I Administration Solutions, LLC announced the signing of an agreement with Auto Knight Motor Club to F&I Admin's SCS Auto platform. Auto Knight Motor Club is a member of Fortegra Financial and will use SCS Auto to administer Key Replacement, Tire and Wheel, Total Protection, and Total Protection Plus. "Signing onto F&I Admin's ... Read More »

Open Dealer Exchange Stays on Cutting Edge of Industry Technology with New Cloud-based Solutions

TROY – Open Dealer Exchange, LLC, a technology leader that streamlines the auto buying process, has partnered with Datapipe to develop a custom cloud-based infrastructure built on the company's Stratosphere platform. The improvements and growth to their network strengthen Open Dealer Exchange's position at the forefront of cloud-technology adoption within the industry. "As 'cloud computing' ... Read More »

Interstate National Announces Industry Leader Mishler as CEO

ATLANTA – Interstate National Corporation, a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital and umbrella corporation for Interstate National Dealer Services, RpmOne and National Warranty Corporation / Payment Insured Plan, Inc., announced the addition of insurance industry veteran, Mark H. Mishler, to lead Interstate National and its subsidiaries as Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Mishler will ... Read More »

GSFSGroup Announces Alan Bond as New Vice-President of National Sales

HOUSTON – GSFSGroup announced that Alan Bond has been appointed Vice President, National Sales to further continue the development of GSFSGroup's national footprint. Mr. Bond's priorities will include developing strategies to continue growth, building new general agent relationships, and maintaining a strong relationship with current agents. Bond served 13 years at AllState Dealer Services as ... Read More »

Cheney Disagreed with Bush on GM Bailout

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he opposed the decision to save General Motors Corp. from collapse in December 2008. In a new memoir, “In My Time,” published Tuesday by Simon & Schuster, Cheney says he disagreed with President George W. Bush’s decision to rescue GM with a $13.4 billion bailout in the ... Read More »

Fiat Sales Chief Resigns

MILAN — Italian auto maker Fiat SpA on Tuesday said Andrea Formica resigned as head of its namesake Fiat brand amid a management overhaul following its acquisition of a majority stake in Chrysler Group LLC. Although Fiat didn’t elaborate, industry analysts suspect Mr. Formica’s departure, effective Sept. 1, was likely due to the auto maker’s ... Read More »

Medallion Bank Joins AppOne Platform

MINNEAPOLIS — Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced that Medallion Bank has joined its AppOne platform, which automates the indirect lending, credit approval and compliance processes for lenders and the RV and marine dealers with which they work. "With current economic challenges, dealers need access to more nonprime lenders in particular — even for customers that ... Read More »

Most Japanese Automakers Report Weak July Production

TOKYO — Most Japanese automakers reported lackluster vehicle production and sales for July, underscoring ongoing malaise in the industry as it grapples with a strong yen, precarious global economy and recovery from the March 11 tsunami. Worldwide production at Toyota Motor Corp. fell 6.1 percent from a year earlier to 594,614 vehicles, the company said ... Read More »

Fed Review: Credit Quality Continues to Improve

A new review by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation indicated that the credit quality of large loan commitments owned by U.S. banking organizations, foreign banking organizations (FBOs), and nonbanks improved in 2011 for the second consecutive year. The 2011 Shared National Credits (SNC) Review revealed that the total analyzed loans declined more than 28 percent ... Read More »

Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra Win Kelley Blue Book Test

Detroit’s automakers are finding it hard to dislodge the Asians from the top ranks of the compact sedan segment, according to a comparison test by Kelley Blue Book, the car pricing experts. The compacts available in the United States are all significantly better, more fuel-efficient and more pleasant to drive than they were even five ... Read More »

New Car Dealerships Increase in U.S.

The number of new car dealers in the U.S. rose slightly in the first half of 2011, as the auto industry expanded in metropolitan areas, according to a report released Wednesday by Detroit-based Urban Science. The increase — amounting to just 0.4 percent, with the addition of 66 dealers for a total of 17,725 across ... Read More »

4th Edition For Joe Verde's 'Recovery & Growth' Book

ORANGE COUNTY – Since its publication two years ago, Joe Verde's book for auto dealers and managers, "A Dealer's Guide to Recovery and Growth in Today's Market" is now in its fourth print run. In the new edition, Verde provides an update for 2011 with a focus on growing a dealership in today's challenging market. ... Read More »