The American Repossessor

Ally Financial Ranks No. 1 in U.S. New Vehicle Financing
By Susan Marston

One in eight new vehicles financed is through Ally

DETROIT (Feb. 4, 2011) – Ally Financial has financed more consumer new vehicle purchases in the U.S. than any other lender during 2010, according to AutoCount data by Experian Automotive.

In 2010, Ally financed more than 803,000 new vehicle purchases, resulting in nearly $23 billion in consumer retail contracts in the U.S. This represents an approximately 60 percent increase in new vehicle originations compared to 2009.

“Ally accounted for one in every eight new vehicle purchases that are financed in this country last year,” said Bill Muir, Ally Financial president. “We are proud to support a broad network of automotive dealers and their customers with financing products and services, and as the leading auto financing source in the market, we are committed to this industry for the long term.” …more…

Exeter Finance CEO to Keynote 3rd Annual North American Repossessors Summit
By Susan Marston

Summit Challenges Participants to Expand the Future of the Recovery Industry

What:
American Recovery Association, Inc. (ARA), the world’s largest association of recovery and remarketing professionals, presents its premier annual industry event. The summit will provide attendees with a full program of insightful, forward-looking topics lead by key industry leaders. Mark Floyd, CEO and Vice Chairman of Exeter Finance, is the keynote speaker for NARS 2011. …more…

TIME IS MARCHING ON…the 4 and 5 March, NARS 2011 is just around the corner!
By Susan Marston

I found this proverb while carrying out some research online and had to include it in this article as it truly does say it all –

“For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today”.  (African Proverb).

I thought too I would ‘throw in’ a few other quotations that were said by some very wise people  that you will recognize – words that are extremely pertinent to what NARS 2011 is all about.

“Change is the law of life.  And those who only look to the past or present are certain to miss the future”.  (John F Kennedy, 1917-1963 – 35th President of the United States).

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.  (Peter Drucker, 1909-2005 – Writer, Management Consultant.  He is the man who invented management and was called “Father of Modern Management”).

“The future starts today, not tomorrow”.  (Pope John Paul II, 1920-2005).

In business, it is globally recognized that a company owner has only so many hours in a day to concentrate on running, managing, developing and growing their companies.  The old saying ‘there are not enough hours in a day’ is one so often heard by business owners, irrespective of company size and industry. …more…

“…. Repo Games TV Show is one of the new shows to hit Spike TV…” It’s a joke, right?
By Susan Marston

Whatever next?  Don’t they have anything better to  use their air time on? When you thought you had heard it all having to suffer the repossession TV shows (and I am purposely NOT promoting the names of those) ….now we have this.

It seems that we are to be blessed with yet another piece of media coverage that will probably portray our industry in a very negative light, as having a car repossessed from the perspective of the debtor or the Field Agent repossessing the vehicle is definitely NOT a game!

No joke about the game.  If you don’t believe me – do some research on the internet and  you will  see exactly what I am talking about.

Headlines to look for: “Spike TV wants to film people losing their cars”…….”Repo Games TV Show in the Works”…..”Spike picks up car Repo Game Show” …more…

Ally Financial Reports Preliminary Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Financial Results
By Susan Marston

• Fourth consecutive quarter of profitability
• Fourth quarter 2010 net income of $79 million and core pre-tax income of $533 million; Full year 2010 net income of $1.1 billion and core pre-tax income of $2.5 billion

(NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2011) – Ally Financial Inc. (Ally) today reported net income of $79 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to a net loss of $5.0 billion for the fourth quarter of 2009.  Core pre-tax income, which reflects income from continuing operations before taxes and original issue discount (OID) amortization expense from bond exchanges, totaled $533 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to a core pre-tax loss of $3.5 billion in the comparable prior year period.

For full-year 2010, Ally reported net income of $1.1 billion, compared to a net loss of $10.3 billion in 2009.  Core pre-tax income in 2010 totaled $2.5 billion, compared to a core pre-tax loss of $5.8 billion in the prior year.

The losses reported for the 2009 fourth quarter and full year were largely affected by losses related to legacy assets in the mortgage operations. …more…

FORD Credit Earns $2 Billion In 2010*
By Susan Marston

Fourth Quarter 2010 Earnings of $367 Million Reported
DEARBORN, Mich., January 28, 2011 – Ford Motor Credit Company reported net income of $2 billion in
2010, an improvement of $0.7 billion from earnings of $1.3 billion a year earlier. On a pre-tax basis, Ford
Credit earned $3.1 billion in 2010, compared with $2 billion in the previous year. The full year increase in pretax
earnings is primarily explained by a lower provision for credit losses and lower depreciation expense for
leased vehicles related to higher auction values, offset partially by lower volume and the non-recurrence of net
gains related to unhedged currency exposure primarily from cross-border intercompany lending.
In the fourth quarter of 2010, Ford Credit’s net income was $367 million, a decrease of $85 million from a year
earlier. On a pre-tax basis, Ford Credit earned $572 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with
$714 million in the previous year. The decrease in pre-tax earnings primarily reflected lower volume and the
non-recurrence of lower lease depreciation expense related to lower gains as fewer leases terminated and the
vehicles were sold. …more…

Chrysler Group LLC Reports January 2011 U.S. Sales Increased 23 Percent
By Susan Marston

• January marks the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases
• Jeep® Grand Cherokee sales up 130 percent versus January 2010
• All Jeep models in production post January sales increases
• Ram pickup truck sales up in January, the ninth-consecutive month of year-over-year sales improvements
• Jeep, Dodge and Ram Truck brands all post double-digit year-over-year sales gains
• Chrysler Group’s 16 all-new or significantly-refreshed vehicles launched in 2010 arrive in dealerships in volume
• Chrysler Group celebrates production launch of the new 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country; both minivans post double-digit percentage sales gains in January
• All-new 2011 Chrysler 300 sedan premieres at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit; Named Top Safety Pick for 2011 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
• New 2011 Jeep Compass compact SUV, now with available Trail Rated 4×4 capability, debuts at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit
• All-new 2011 Dodge Charger named Top Safety Pick for 2011 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

February 1, 2011 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Chrysler Group LLC today reported U.S. sales of 70,118, a 23 percent increase compared with sales in January 2010 (57,143 units). …more…

Out of the Chat room into the Court room
By Susan Marston

The by-line, “Out of the Chat room into the Court room,” is an attempt to match recent internet discussions or issues with recent case law decisions.

Police involvement in self-help repossession is a recurring theme of on-line discussions. Some of the contributors to these chats claim to be ex-police officers who provide their opinions based on their criminal law experience. Unfortunately criminal law experience does not translate particularly well to the civil law self-help as a police officer learned in a case filed in federal court, which was decided in November 2009.

Before we look at the facts lets identify the parties.

Eric——owns a used car lot and works as a full time employee of the City Police Department.

David—-manages Eric’s used car lot.

Shayla—purchased a Honda for Eric’s used car lot and is the Debtor.

Ray——-works as a full time employee of the City Police Department. …more…

QUALITY, SERVICE, PROFESSIONALISM…
By Susan Marston

George Washington (1731-1799) said….” Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation.  It is better to be alone than in bad company….”

Having quality management systems in place, enables us to transfer not only our services to our clients, but they expand into our industry, helping their companies too, to become more professional.

Expansion is one way that a company can grow and to support that growth there needs to be policies, procedures and processes to enable the growth to survive, which in turn will help companies become more profitable.  Expansion is not a word you hear of much when we are in recessional times, however, many of our clients are doing just that, growing from strength to strength and being profitable in doing so.

Expansion…during these recessional times?

Oh yes you can, as any professional, qualitative and profitable service can do it – if you plan to make it work. Knowing your market, carrying out market research and planning will help your ‘expansion’ flourish. …more…

Recovery Survey: Repossession by the Numbers
By Susan Marston

ATLANTA — Auto Auction Services Corp. recently hosted a focus group for the repossession industry, inviting recovery agency managers to give their feedback about how they run their businesses, and what they need to continue serving lending institutions and other clients competitively.

This candid feedback session last October occurred on the heels of a nationwide recovery industry survey administered by AASC.

The nearly 100 survey respondents reported an average 200 repossessions per month and 37 regular clients. Most agencies have between six and 25 employees and run a business that is over 10 years old. Unique as they may be, repossession agencies are facing many of the same economic and business issues affecting most companies.

Despite media hype about the recession driving up repo volume, many agencies are struggling to secure new business and keep costs down as the industry becomes more competitive. “Managing client expectations” rounded out the top three business challenges facing repo companies. …more…