Subprime Credit Finance

Compared to recent years, dealers have been reporting loosened subprime financing, and their ratings of subprime finance companies this year correlate. For the first time since 2008, more than three subprime credit finance companies scored well enough to earn mention.

The same non-captive that topped the prime category, Wells Fargo Auto Finance, also prevailed in the subprime category with a score of 111.9, garnering it the Diamond Award. This is the company’s second Diamond Award in the subprime category, and it has scored above average six out of the past seven years.

Regional Acceptance – this year’s Platinum Award winner – is the only company in the category with bragging rights on scoring above average every year. Over the years, Regional Acceptance has won three Diamond Awards, two Platinum Awards, one Gold Award and one fourth-place finish.

Gold Award winner Capital One Auto Finance has won awards three years in a row, with Platinum Awards in ‘10 and ‘09. The three years prior, Capital One Auto Finance scored above average and garnered honorable mentions in the awards. “We are deepening our relationships with dealers via our Diamond Dealer program. The Diamond Dealer program is about building relationships with a subset of dealers and offering those dealers exclusive benefits,” said Steve Braskamp, vice president of marketing and credit for Capital One Auto Finance. “Going into 2011, we would like to continue to build on that. The most basic qualification for the program is being committed to a relationship with Capital One, and like any relationship, you need to build it from both sides.”

The fourth- and fifth-place subprime finance companies (Chase Bank and AmeriCredit, respectively), both scored well enough in the past to be recognized but were absent from the 2010 awards.