Subprime Credit FInance

While the average score in the Subprime Credit Finance category was down slightly, two award-winners from last year’s awards returned with improved scores. The Diamond Award winner, Regional Acceptance, scored a 125.7, which is notable for two reasons. One, that’s the highest score any subprime finance company has ever achieved in the Dealers’ Choice Awards, and two, this year’s score is 33.3 points higher than the company’s Gold-Award-winning score from the 2009 awards.

Regional Acceptance has also managed an above-average score every year of the awards. This year, the company worked on strengthening dealer relationships, which may be the reason for such a high score. “We realize that for lenders and dealers alike, we are in challenging times. This past year, we conducted our own internal dealer survey to hear directly from our dealer clients in an effort to serve them better,” said Ron Wooten, senior vice president and CFO of Regional Acceptance.

Capital One Auto Finance, known among dealers for its lightning-quick funding, achieved the Platinum Award again this year, gaining Double Platinum status. Since the 2006 awards, Capital One Auto Finance has received an above-average score from dealers every year.

Santander Consumer USA – a first-time award winner this year – won the Gold Award in the Subprime Credit Finance category. “We’re always working on improving our programs, but we made a number of significant changes to our subprime program – Drive – in the last year. For the Drive program, we improved the advance, reduced fees and made it possible to add back-end products on every deal. Our structures also reward dealers for using good collateral that’s appropriate for the customer,” said Laurie Kight, communications director, Santander Consumer USA.