Auto Shopping/Buying Articles
Driving the Car Buying Revolution
When it comes to digital retail, buying a new car has lagged behind other products and services that can be purchased entirely online. Many would agree that the auto industry as a whole is behind the digital curve when it comes to the car buyer’s experience. However, that is rapidly changing. According to a Google/comScore…
High Dealer Satisfaction Means Good Business for Automotive Lenders
As automobile dealers increasingly expect faster and more efficient vehicle financing, they have begun to pivot away from placing the highest value on transaction speed and focus instead on their relationship with their lenders. This change in expectations is causing lenders to ask how they can increase their business. To answer this, credit unions and…
Changes are Coming to Automotive Retail…Credits Unions Must Prepare
The past few years have been quite remarkable for both dealers and lenders. But the past is not prologue…new car sales have already plateaued, and most forecasters now see 2017 flat with last year – at best – for new car sales. It’s more likely that we will see declines in new car sales, exactly…
The Future of Autonomous Lending is Now
I recently had the opportunity to research some of the emerging transportation technologies that will affect our lives over the next ten to fifteen years. Alternative fuels, autonomous vehicles and the ride sharing economy have been discussed in media for several years, and today we are beginning to experience how some of these technologies are…
Changing Lanes: Millennials, Cars and Consumer Loans
There is no doubt that the retail world is undergoing a period of rapid change as brick-and-mortar staples face mounting pressure from dynamic internet retailers for market share. This is even more evident in the auto industry as we move into the fast lane of online retailing, and this change is heavily influenced by the…
Why is Credit Union Auto Loan Growth Up?
I was recently asked during an interview what I thought credit unions were doing differently to account for credit union auto loan growth being on the rise. The question kind of caught me off guard and I didn’t have a ready answer. I do know that credit unions are becoming more data savvy — and I know…
The Member Experience Matters
As marketers, we are focused on our credit union’s brand. In fact, we’re probably obsessed with it. We lean on it in meetings with the team and ideation sessions. We have guidelines and standards. But what is a brand? The traditional definition was easy to quantify. According to the AMA*, a brand is “a name,…
CU Direct’s AutoSMART and AutoPremier Programs Continue to Expand
During the annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention last month in San Francisco, CU Direct’s next generation AutoSMART site and AutoPremier program were highlighted and very well received by the Dealer Community. Success of both programs in 2014 was the topic of conversation with dealers and media outlets alike during the show. AutoSMART once again experienced significant growth in 2014, as…
Shifting into Second: The Future of Driving Auto Loans (Part 2)
The notion of a buying service has been around for some time, generally in the form of an auto broker who negotiates a price on the consumer’s behalf, in exchange for a broker fee either built into the purchase price of the vehicle or charged separately for the service. While the traditional broker model still…
Shifting into Second: The Future of Driving Auto Loans (Part 1)
For the auto industry, the Road to Purchase has shifted radically. Today, most shoppers take several months to go from the initial decision to buy a car, to the ultimate action of buying one, taking full advantage of research tools and other resources throughout their digital journey, much more heavily than ever seen in the…