GM to expand into offering dealers loans, says Dan Amman
By Andrew, 19 Mar, 2011. 0 Comments
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General Motors Co.’s treasurer Dan Amman said GM is looking for ways to expand into offering dealers loans to purchase new inventory. Amman, who takes over as chief financial officer on April 1, 2011, said a GM move into floor-plan financing would give dealers more borrowing options and better rates. In the fourth quarter, Ally Financial Inc. -- formerly GM's GMAC Inc. finance arm -- provided 82 percent of floor-plan lending to GM's dealers.
In October 2010, GM acquired Fort Worth, Texas-based subprime lender AmeriCredit Inc. for $3.5 billion to boost car sales and write loans for subprime consumers. GM, since December 2010, has used the unit -- renamed GM Financial -- to expand leasing options for car buyers.
Without going into specifics, GM said that it could use GM Financial to begin wholesale lending or expand into the business in other ways. An analyst at IHS Automotive in Lexington, Mass., said it’s something GM needs to consider for their dealers so that they can keep healthy levels of inventory. She added that consumers are ready to buy right now and so each consumer that walks out of a dealership without a car is a sale lost.
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