The partnership, which is novel to the automobile industry, is the concept of Ben Hensley, VP of Sales at Coastal, and Sergeant Major Dave Francisco, USMC (ret), Director of Vets-Cars. “Our collaboration with Vets-Cars is unique and very exciting,” said Hensley, a United States Air Force veteran, “and, will enable us to provide our dealer customers a powerful level of value and commitment and position us to better serve those who serve.”

Vets-Cars membership, which will include training on properly serving the military auto buyer, will be offered to all qualifying members of Coastal Credit’s vast dealer base. And, Vets-Shield Command Care extended vehicle coverage, a top quality exclusionary product administered by NAC, will be utilized as the preferred VSC on all auto loans made to enlisted military personnel.

As Francisco explained, “The Vets-Shield VSC Program was designed by me, Chris Walsh (Managing Partner for Vets-Cars Group), and fellow Marine Corps Sergeants Major. All of us had had experience with young Marines in our charge getting into trouble trying to buy a vehicle or getting talked into a service contract that was misrepresented and sold at an exorbitant price by some less-than-scrupulous dealer employee,” he said.

“With Vets-Shield, we are able to provide price-regulated, top quality exclusionary coverage that is administered by NAC, renowned for their integrity, professionalism and near flawless customer support within the automotive industry.”

“The concept of providing this level of start-to-finish services for military personnel – from quality vehicle to loan to extended coverage – is innovative, and we’re pleased to play an important role within this new partnership,” said Christina Schrank, Vice President of Marketing at NAC. 

“Our mission”, concluded Hensley, “Is, and always has been, to provide the highest level of service and quality of product to our dealers and their enlisted customers. This partnership will provide all involved new opportunities to grow and continue to ‘Do well by doing good’.”

“Today, dealer demand for more profitable, value-added back-end products is increasing,” said Randy L. Ortiz, LoJack CEO and President. “With that in mind, we are very excited to work with IAS to extend our reach into even more dealerships. IAS’s world-class agent base combining their offerings with our trusted brand-name products will provide dealers with the most robust F&I products available.”

IAS general agents will now market LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery Systems plus Early Warning along with a variety of warranty offerings. In addition, IAS agents will offer two of their own IAS reinsured products in conjunction with a LoJack System.

LoJack will provide training for IAS general agents and their agency representatives on the various LoJack offerings and potential dealership presentations.

“We believe that working with a trusted brand such as LoJack is a win-win for everyone,” said Bob Corbin, IAS CEO and President. “Our agent base, LoJack and dealers can sell proven products that help increase profitability. And even more important, more consumers have the opportunity to protect their vehicles—and their pocketbooks—from vehicle theft.”

As the auto industry continues to recover and consumer demand for new vehicles rises, LoJack’s use of Third Party F&I Aftermarket Program Providers has become an increasing focus for the company. Being able to reach more dealerships through these providers that are offering an attractive product suite is fast proving itself an essential part of LoJack’s sales strategy.

“CNA National is heavily investing in our technology architecture and CIO Perspectives is the perfect opportunity to benchmark what we have accomplished,” says Pendergast.

CIOs from Fortune 1000 companies create the agenda and topics that will be discussed in each city. Pendergast will be a participant on the panel, “Balancing Risk with Innovation in Mobility, Social Media and Consumer Technologies.” The panel also features executives from Chevron and Electronic Arts, and is moderated by Maryfran Jonson, editor-in-chief of CIO magazine.

The goal of CIO Perspectives is to empower local CIOs to expand their professional communities and to tap into the knowledge base of their colleagues to solve their most pressing IT/business problems.

“Being able to interact with my peers about best practices, lessons learned, successful strategies and architectures allows CNA National to increase our resources for future developments” says Pendergast. “We value our position as industry leader in providing vehicle service contracts and our technological investments in data analytics, rating automation and infrastructure will ensure we maintain separation from our competitors.”

Last month, CNA National became the first company to be simultaneously named top vehicle service contract provider and top reinsurer by Auto Dealer Monthly’s Dealer’s Choice Awards. CNA National’s technology investments in recent years include creating the CIO position, ongoing hiring within the IT department as well as new “e-business” portal websites for agents and dealerships. CNA National’s attendance at CIO Perspectives is part of its current campaign to increase visibility in the automotive and business industry sectors.

Sharpnack joined CNA National in April 2010 after establishing a successful career including corporate, managerial and sales positions in the automotive industry. In this new position Sharpnack will be responsible for managing CNA National’s sales production at auto dealerships across the country through the company’s six regional vice presidents.

“Jay has proven to be a valuable asset to our agents,” says Alan Miller, senior vice president of sales. “During the past two years in his role as regional vice president, he has achieved considerable success and increased production in his assigned region. He has a solid understanding of our industry and has repeatedly demonstrated his skill as an effective leader in building relations with agents and interacting with our dealer clients.”

The creation of the new national sales manager position signals further growth for CNA National. Additional corporate growth initiatives include expansion of the IT department and e-business applications along with product improvements.

“CNA National sets the gold standard in our market and I have the privilege of working with some of the best agents and sales personnel in the industry,” says Sharpnack. “I am excited to be a part of CNA’s commitment to long-term growth while maintaining the highest service standards. Our growth is based on the quality of the CNA National brand as we continue to bring value to auto dealerships and the agents that serve them.”

2012 is a milestone year for CNA National, as the company celebrates its 30th anniversary. Earlier this month, CNA National was voted by dealers as the top vehicle service contract provider and top reinsurer in the Dealer’s Choice Awards presented by Auto Dealer Monthly. It was the seventh time in the last eight years CNA National was recognized as the top service contract provider, and the second year in a row of being recognized as the industry’s top reinsurer.

Once downloaded, RouteOne Windows Phone 7 app will allow users to view and manage all dealers and leads, whether in the F&I office, on the showroom floor, or outside of the dealership. Dealers may also view a condensed version of the Deal Manager, the Deal Summary, and the Lead Manager, as well as request and view credit scores instantly.

RouteOne has already released mobile versions of its dealer tools for Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod, as well as the BlackBerry and Android phones.

“The addition of the RouteOne app for Windows rounds out our free suite of mobile tools,” said Mike Jurecki, RouteOne CEO. “Dealers can track deal statuses and work credit applications from just about anywhere, allowing them the flexibility they need to conduct business effectively and efficiently with the tools of their choosing.”

The rebranding also represents the company’s efforts over the last few years to broaden its footprint in the independent dealer market, reported F&I and Showroom magazine.

“We are rebranding our suite of products to better reflect our long term commitment to providing dealer management solutions,” says David Huber, CEO and President of Finance Express.

At its outset, the Finance Express technology was launched as a lender portal. Since that time, through acquisitions, system development, and integrated partnerships, the company has evolved into a major player in the dealer management solutions space.

“We see the FEX DMS as the core technology of a dealer’s operations,” said JeffMcCurry, vice president of development for Finance Express. “Our primary responsibility is to enable the dealer to use best of breed technologies through integration.”

As part of its corporate evolution, AAGI’s Performance Services department has been created. This department will encompass the on-going, two-day Agent Certification workshop held throughout the calendar year, as well as, the F&I Certification Training.

AAGI has planned three F&I Certification Training sessions at their Arlington Heights, IL location. Each session will be five days in length, taught by UDS staff. The program will include a focus on presentation skills and techniques, lender relations and advanced management skills. Additionally, participants will engage in role playing and critiquing of their performance by UDS staff.

Jeff Teuscher, Vice President of Sales and head of AAGI’s Performance Services, said, “This is the most comprehensive training available in the market, and we are pleased to be able to present the program as part of our services to our agent and dealer base. Our responsibility is not strictly to administer contracts, but to assist our client base with gaining the tools necessary for success. AAGI’s adage continues to be…We Succeed Only When You Do!®”

The connectivity to PEN enables F&I aftermarket product e-contracting directly from the dealer software. Embedded into the system, e-contracting functions eliminate the need for the dealership user to access multiple applications or re-enter critical deal data in order to complete the transaction.

Currently, ADP Menu (formerly MenuVantage) and The Impact Group Fusion menu integrate to PEN. This same technology will soon be made available direct from the dealership management software from Reynolds and Reynolds.

“The connection to PEN is valuable to AUL because PEN connections and services are best aligned to solve a long standing industry need,” says Rand Monroe, General Manager of AUL. “Doing business electronically must be easy for dealers to adopt and PEN supports this very well.”

“AUL is an outstanding organization with a strong dealer base,” said Ron Greer, VP of Provider Services at PEN. “This relationship brings us one step closer to our goal of e-contracting for every dealer in North America.”

PEN is an electronic data exchange that streamlines the sales process by integrating the F&I product provider with dealers’ point-of-sale systems, whether through a menu or directly with the DMS. This integration approach eliminates the need for separate applications to enable e-contracting for aftermarket products. Functions include electronic ratings, forms preparation and contract origination.

Missouri’s Attorney General Chris Koster’s announcement outlined a range of violations, including keeping refunds owed to customers; leading customers to believe that contracts covered more vehicle repairs than they actually did; using deceptive practices to avoid state laws related to insurance or service contracts; and leading consumers to believe that US Fidelis was affiliated with automakers and dealers when this was not the case.

Atkinson now faces an eight-year sentence for each of the first two counts (stealing consumers’ refunds and insurance fraud) and four years for the third count, consumer fraud. Atkinson’s trial is set for Sept. 4, reported F&I and Showroom magazine.

US Fidelis, a direct-to-consumer provider of vehicle service contracts, originally came under investigation in 2008, when then-Attorney General for Pennsylvania (now governor) Tom Corbett claimed that the company systematically ignored federal Do-Not-Call rules, among other violations.

In June, 2011, a St. Charles County grand jury handed down a 14-count indictment against Darain Atkinson and a 13-count indictment against his brother Cory Atkinson, including charges of unlawful merchandising practices, stealing and insurance fraud.

In July, 2011, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed a new law that targets auto service contract businesses engaging in deceptive practices to sell extended service contracts.

In his congratulatory remarks, AFIP Executive Director David Robertson underscored the challenges of posting a score of 80 percent or higher on the sanctioning body’s most stringent course of study.

“Based on the current roster of AFIP Certified F&I practitioners, captive lender field operatives, and professional trainers, less than seven percent qualify for Master Certification.” Robertson said.

Upon accepting her diploma from NJCAR’s president, Jim Appleton, Judy said, “I had to draw on three decades of automotive industry experience as well as my expertise in the Basic and Senior curricula while working as an AFIP Accredited Facilitator to pass that test. On the other hand,” Judy continued, “in the course of mastering the material, one will not only have a command of the state and federal rules, but their application to real-world F&I situations.”

Judy Vann started her automotive career in the retail environment as both sales and F&I manager for nine years. She continued her career with Pat Ryan & Associates, where she defined her F&I training experience. Judy spent the next ten years training F&I managers on ethical sales and compliance practices with New Jersey-based F&I Product Suppliers.

She formed JV Solutions six years ago, and has been working with the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers (NJCAR), as well as many large automotive dealer groups in training and AFIP Certifying their management staffs.

The dealerships who utilize JV Solutions to prepare their F&I personnel for the AFIP final exams find that the successful candidates post passing scores well above industry norms. The time demands of working F&I coupled with the years away from an academic environment make Ms. Vann’s command of the course material and practical experience the key contributors to dealership personnel scoring high marks.