McLEAN – NADA University announced it is now offering all of its legal and regulatory webinars – live and on-demand – at no cost to NADA and American Truck Dealer (ATD) members and their staffs.

Dealer members may extend this benefit to their contracted financial and legal professionals by adding those professionals as licensed users within their NADA University account.

“Dealers face an enormous challenge in staying updated and compliant on complex legal and regulatory requirements, so NADA U has responded by expanding access to critical information that will make that job a lot easier,” said Michelle Primm, managing partner of Cascade Auto Group and chair of NADA’s Dealership Operations Committee.

NADA U’s legal and regulatory webinars focus on a variety of topics, including the following:

• Credit score disclosure requirements
• The Family and Medical Leave Act
• The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) new model privacy notice
• FTC Red Flags Rule
• The new Small Business Administration dealer floorplan loan program
• Organized labor issues and response
• Wage and hour compliance
• Risk-based pricing rule
• UNICAP safe harbor methods
• Comprehensive Safety Analysis program

SCHAUMBURG — Experian Automotive announced that the automotive loan market showed continued improvement, with interest rates for new- and used-vehicle loans reaching the lowest levels since 2008, according to its quarterly automotive credit analysis.

In the fourth quarter 2011, average credit scores for new- and used-vehicle loans dropped, the percentage of loans to customers with nonprime, subprime or deep subprime credit scores increased, and lenders increased their willingness to make loans between six and seven years long, according to Experian.

“The improved automotive lending market is good news for consumers in the market to buy a vehicle,” said Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive lending at Experian Automotive. “The confluence of low interest rates, longer loan terms and an increase in loans outside of prime provide a great opportunity for more people to find a vehicle that suits their needs.”

Consumers continued to do a better job of repaying loans in the end-of-year quarter as loan delinquencies fell. The 30-day delinquency rate fell 6.57 percent from the year-ago quarter to 2.79 percent. The 60-day delinquency rate also fell by 9.51 percent from 0.79 percent in the fourth quarter 2010 to 0.72 percent in the last quarter of 2011.

Another positive sign for the lending market is that the overall dollar volume of loans at risk dropped to $18.5 billion, a $1.862 billion drop from the fourth quarter 2010. Meanwhile, the total volume of open loans rose by $23.9 billion in the fourth quarter last year to $658 billion.

“Lenders are clearly on much more solid ground than they were two or three years ago,” Zabritski said. “With delinquencies and total dollar volume at risk down, lenders have been able to adopt more aggressive strategies. This tends to benefit everyone, from lenders to automotive retailers to the end consumer. With more lenders aggressively competing for business, it’s a great time for consumers to buy or finance a vehicle.”

Average interest rates for new-vehicle loans fell to 4.52 percent from the year-ago quarter. Average interest rates for used vehicle loans fell also to 8.68 percent from 8.71 percent in the fourth quarter 2010.

Average credit scores for new-vehicle loans dropped six points to 761, while average credit scores for used-vehicle loans dropped nine points to 670. New-vehicle loans to nonprime, subprime and deep subprime customers increased by 13.8 percent from a year ago.

Loans of 73 to 84 months accounted for 14.1 percent of all new-vehicle loans and 9.04 percent of all used-vehicle loans, up 47.1 percent and 41.1 percent from the fourth quarter 2010, respectively.

FICO announced that the auto industry is simultaneously migrating to the FICO 8 Auto Score, with most lenders expected to complete the adoption process by May.

A number of auto lenders have already migrated to the FICO 8 Auto Score, including Volkswagen Credit, Santander Consumer USA and First Investors, with a majority of the top 35 lenders planning to migrate within the next two months, according to FICO.

In addition, the nearly 18,000 franchised dealers and the majority of the more than 30,000 independent dealers using credit scores in the industry are also expected to migrate to remain in synchronization with their lender partners, reported F&I and Showroom.

The industry-wide migration to the new FICO 8 Auto Score will allow lenders and dealers to jointly share more consistent information as they finance vehicle sales and extend credit to their customers with greater confidence. Rating agencies and the general financial services community also use FICO Scores for their analyses of the auto industry.

“FICO seeks to help lenders position themselves for growth while controlling risk in their portfolios,” said Dr. Mark Greene, CEO of FICO. “Moreover, FICO knows well that the credit quality of the automotive consumer has changed over the last couple years. While there is cautious optimism around growth opportunities for the auto market in 2011, FICO realizes that sharper risk prediction tools are critical to our clients’ long-term profitable growth.”

The FICO 8 Auto Score is currently being used by more than 3,500 banks and finance institutions across multiple lending lines such as bankcard and mortgage.

“To minimize risk and increase profits, lenders need updated credit scores that incorporate the latest data and analytics for credit risk assessment,” said Craig Focardi, senior research director at TowerGroup. “Updated credit scoring analytics enable lenders to upgrade their loan underwriting and account management practices, which has a direct impact on the bottom line.”

DETROIT – Chrysler Group got a boost this week when Ally Bank, the former GMAC, lowered its credit-score threshold for Chrysler customers to qualify for a vehicle lease from 660 to 620, reported Automotive News.

The move by Ally, Chrysler’s preferred finance provider, broadens the pool of lease customers. A 660 FICO score is on the lower end of prime, while a 620 score is on the upper end of subprime.

In a memo to dealers this week, Chrysler confirmed that Ally had revised its minimum score. Dealers confirmed the 620 figure.

A credit score helps determine what interest rate a bank will charge a customer for a loan. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.

Chrysler’s leasing business collapsed in July 2008 when its former captive finance company, Chrysler Financial, left the leasing business when the resale value of its pickups and SUVs plunged amid soaring gasoline prices.

In 2006, when Chrysler Financial was still its captive finance company, leases accounted for about 22 percent of all Chrysler new-vehicle transactions. After Chrysler Financial left the leasing business, along with most of Chrysler’s lenders, that percentage plummeted to under 1 percent by mid-2009, according to Ralph Kisiel, a Chrysler spokesman.

“Since then, as lenders have resumed leasing, our corporate average has gradually been increasing to where we’re at today, 4 percent to 6 percent,” said Kisiel. “We are now taking a disciplined approach to leasing. We still want to remain competitive by offering a wide variety of financing options.”

Leasing will account for less than 22percent of sales, he said, and Chrysler is “comfortable” with leasing levels at their current level.

David Kelleher, owner of David Doge Chrysler Jeep in Glen Mills, Pa., and a member of Chrysler’s National Dealer Council, said the shift would be a big help to dealers in extending lease offerings to more customers.

Ally declined to comment on the change in Chrysler credit scores.