Dear
Welcome to the October issue of Motor Finance – the fourth
anniversary issue of the magazine. Events of the past few weeks
have shaken the financial world, and motor finance has inevitably
been affected.
One of the first sectors to show signs of trouble was the
sub-prime motor finance market; as funders have pulled back from
this sector, dealers are now having real problems matching their
car-buying customers with motor finance providers (see “You can get
finance – as long as you can prove you don’t need it”). Brokers now
have a chance to prove their worth – but the intermediary sector is
likely to see significant contraction before the rollercoaster ride
of recent months runs its course.
Motor Finance is delighted to welcome a new columnist – Andy
Tong, of Profit Training Ltd. A well-known figure in motor retail
F&I, he’ll write regular columns on how dealers and financiers
can work together to maximise profits from point-of-sale funding
options (see Andy Tong: At the sharp end).
How could anything other than the Lloyds TSB/HBOS news be on the
cover this month? A huge story for both lessors and PoS providers,
we devote three pages to it (The path to the super-fleet?, A
revolution at the point of sale?). Lots of industry experts were
willing to talk – but only on an anonymous basis, which is
understandable given the circumstances.
Given all that has happened recently – and all that lies just
over the horizon – who knows how the industry will look in four
more years?
With very best wishes in these turbulent times.
Jo Tacon
jo.tacon@vrlknowledgebank.com
