All articles by Fred Crawley
Fred Crawley
Editor’s letter: The rains return
Looking out of the office as this issue of Motor Finance goes to press, the drizzle has
Alphera says 72% buy on finance
Savings of £112m a year predicted in push to address vehicle inconsistencies as 72% of buyers on rely on finance packages, says Alphera Financial research.
Just Motor Finance out of business
Car finance broker Just Motor Finance has gone out of business less than eight months after opening, citing losses incurred due to a shortfall in sales performance The startup introducer was founded by four ex-British Credit Trust staff in September 2011, and intended to transact around £750,000 per month in subprime business. However, in a letter sent out to business partners on 11 May, the company announced its closure, explaining that business had not met expectations set in 2011
Editor’s Letter: Bumper issue
Have you noticed the extra-thick Motor Finance this month Felt the extra weight in your hands Are your shoulders sore just from lifting it to your desk?
What Roger did next
Fred Crawley catches up with Roger Gewolb, a fixture of the UK motor finance industry since arriving from Chicago in 1974, to find out his plans for the future. A fixture in the City and then the industry since he moved to the UK in 1974, there arent many people he hasnt done business with, sat on a board with, vocally agreed with or equally vocally disagreed with over the years.
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Santander takes Vauxhall 0% programme from GMAC
Vauxhalls flagship car finance programme is to be taken over by Santander Consumer Finance, in a shock move that dealers say could change the face of manufacturer finance. As of 3 April, the Flexible Finance scheme, which offers 0% APR representative over a two- to five-year period, will be offered to Vauxhall dealers by Santander, with manufacturer subsidy going to the UK motor finance arm of the Spanish bank. A spokesperson for Ally Financial in Detroit, of which GMAC is a trading style, commented: We understand that Vauxhall is using an alternative financial source for one of its current subsidised retail campaigns, as permitted by its global operating agreement with General Motors
Gewolb aims to reform subprime
Well known industry figure Roger Gewolb, formerly of Park Motor Finance, has announced a raft of new projects to Motor Finance, including political work to reform the UK subprime credit market Following previous advisory assignments for the Bank of England and the Treasury, Gewolb says he is working with parliamentarians to develop new finance and business initiatives, with what he calls a bit of a social enterprise twist, with a view to reforming UK subprime credit. In terms of his ambitions in the motor finance market itself, the Chicago native told Motor Finance that potential investors he had met with were either hampered by unrealistic profit and timescale expectations, or unnecessarily worried about subprime business.
Group including CMC seeks leads from dealers and lenders
Financial services group Mitchell Farrar Group (MFG) is searching the motor finance sector for customers that have been declined finance from all lenders, with a view to providing them with financial advice, debt consolidation and PPI claims management According to MFG, customers whose financial situation is improved by debt management and advice services can then be turned back to lead introducers for future sales, providing a customer retention benefit in addition to partnership revenue.
ACF calls for more introduced business as approval rate tops 35%
Subprime finance and motor retail group ACF Car Finance is on a major drive to generate finance leads from third parties as the volume of deals underwritten by the company hit a 10-year high last month. The proportion of approved deals sourced from dealers, brokers and other lenders has increased by 8% over the last two years and now makes up more than 60% of the total, with the remainder largely made up of business sourced online, according to an ACF spokeswoman.
Editor’s letter: world not ended; life goes on
Facetious as it sounds, the answer would seem to depend on how tough the media can manage to make it look to consumers. To say so conveniently avoids ploughing through an exhaustive list of economic indicators in order to offer an official-sounding prognosis, which I admit is partly a time-saving measure on my part.