P&A Online
March 18, 2010
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P&A Industry News
GMAC Will Be Saab's Preferred Lender
Spyker Cars N.V., which recently bought Saab Automobile from General Motors Co., has chosen GMAC Financial Services as the preferred lender for its 500 Saab dealers in North America and globally, Automotive News reported.
GMAC's preferred lender agreement with Spyker takes effect immediately and calls for GMAC to supply dealers with inventory financing and retail ... Read More »
GM Won't Seek GMAC Reunion
General Motors Co. won't try to regain control of former finance arm GMAC Financial Services, an idea the automaker had considered as a way to bolster sales and make itself more attractive to potential investors, two people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
Earlier this month, the Congressional Oversight Panel suggested breaking ... Read More »
GMAC has Raised $7.1 Billion Selling Securities, Bonds
GMAC Financial Services this week is raising nearly $1 billion selling retail auto loans as securities, Automotive News reported.
The sale is one of a series of transactions indicating that GMAC has improved its access to capital in the past six months after having to rely on repeated cash infusions from the U.S. Treasury Department to ... Read More »
Magazine Creates Advisory Boards for the F&I and VSCAC Conferences
TORRANCE, Calif. — F&I and Showroom magazine announced today the formation of the F&I Advisory Board, a panel of industry executives, dealers and experts who will provide direction and insight related to the F&I Conference and Expo’s 2010 agenda.
Scheduled for Sept. 14-15 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, the 7th annual F&I Conference and Expo ... Read More »
Automotive Industry News
Ex-Chrysler Executive Jerome York Dies
DETROIT – Jerome York, a board member at Apple Inc., and a financial wizard who is credited with turning around Chrysler and IBM, died Thursday at the age of 71, The Detroit News reported.
York, who lived in suburban Detroit, was taken to POH Regional Medical Center in Pontiac on Tuesday night. The Wall Street Journal ... Read More »
Forecasting Firm CSM Acquired by Rival IHS
DETROIT – The automotive forecasting and analysis firm CSM Worldwide Inc. has been acquired by publicly held rival IHS Inc., Automotive News reported.
The $27 million deal creates an industry leader in auto industry forecasting and analysis. IHS’ industry information and analysis services will add CSM’s 100 automotive analysts in eight countries. About 85 percent of ... Read More »
Report Fails to Shed Light on Runaway Prius in California
EL CAJON, Calif. – A California Highway Patrol officer responding to a report of a runway Toyota Prius last week arrived to find a Border Patrol agent near the driver with emergency lights on.
The Border Patrol presence raises the prospect that there were other witnesses. It is one of the few new details in ... Read More »
GM Looks to Augment Reality with Next-gen Windshield Display Technology
General Motors continues to develop next-generation technologies that indicate a more forward-thinking approach for the once sluggish company. Last month it was a humanoid robot; this month it’s a next-generation windshield designed to augment a driver’s reality, MLive.com reported.
The automaker announced yesterday it’s Warren, Mich.-based research team is working with several universities on a futuristic ... Read More »
Ford, GM Fare Well in J.D. Power Reliability Rankings
Porsche shot to the top of a closely watched study of long-term vehicle dependability, overtaking U.S. and Japanese rivals, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
The German sports car brand took the No. 1 spot in the annual study, which gave it ninth place last year. Lincoln came in second, while Buick and Lexus tied for ... Read More »
Geely Says Volvo Talks Hit Snag
BEIJING — China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Chairman Li Shufu said he continues to expect to complete Geely’s effort to acquire Ford Motor Co.’s unprofitable Volvo unit but indicated the talks have hit a snag because of unspecified problems at Ford, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Li said the automaker has “done everything [it] can ... Read More »
Detroit 3 Raise Asian Currency Issues
WASHINGTON – The Detroit Three automakers on Wednesday urged Congress to take action to stop efforts by Japan and South Korea to shore up their currencies, The Detroit News reported.
The automakers prodded Congress to “send a clear message to the governments of Japan and Korea: Do not intervene in currency markets.”
It’s the latest effort by ... Read More »
Ford Shares Hit 5-Year High as Moody’s Raises Rating
March 17 – Ford Motor Co. rose to a 5-year high in New York trading and its bonds gained after Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the automaker’s credit rating, reported Bloomberg.
The company’s shares climbed 61 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $14.10 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the highest close since Jan. ... Read More »
Monthly Survey Questions
Cast Your Vote
Question 1: How many people touch a service contract claim from origination to payment?
Question 2: How long, on average, is a service contract claim open?
Question 3: From whom do you recover cancellation refunds when a dealer has gone out of business?
