F&I and Showroom, October 2019

www fi magazine com 12 F I and Showroom October 2019 DEVELOPMENTS Dealer management system provider Dealer Built announced the appointment of automotive industry veteran Keith Baker as chief revenue officer As CRO Baker is responsible for directly influencing DealerBuilts continued and future growth overseeing new business sales and marketing and improving client utilization and product strategy The former Autobytel and Cox Automotive executive brings 25 years of experience managing field sales teams and is an awardwinning speaker and coach Nick Peluso president of Manheim Digital will retire from the company Dec 31 Pelusos departure will mark the close of a career that has spanned three decades including leadership positions in sales marketing and portfolio management Peluso joined ADT Automotive in 1988 as a regional sales rep and was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing Manheim acquired the company in 2000 and named Peluso a division president He became president of Manheim Digital in 2017 Axiom announced the addition of Susan Johnson as the newest member of the companys executive team Johnson joins Axiom in the role of executive vice president with responsibility for leading product development and administration initiatives for current and future products Johnson brings an expert level skill set in product development compliance sales and risk management She is tasked with driving new product and sales opportunities for Axiom with a cross departmental group fusionZONE Automotive LLC today announced the appointment of Adam Swanson as OEM director Swanson brings more than 10 years of experience leading teams in enterprise level automotive consulting strategy and has expertise in ecommerce digital marketing field team management and consumer experience initiatives The former Shift Digital executive will be tasked with growing successful partnerships with OEMs in need of effective website and digital advertising solutions for their dealership networks Moves and Hires MAZDA TURNS TO TOYOTA FOR CAPTIVE FINANCING Toyota Motor Credit Corp will replace Mazda Capital Services as the captive consumer loan and lease financing company for U S Mazda dealers according to a report filed with the U S Securities and Exchange Commission in September Mazda Capital Services is the marque created by JPMorgan Chase in April 2010 more than a year after Chase became Mazdas exclusive financing provider The intent of this partnership is to provide enhanced financing and protection options for customers and dealers Jeff Guyton president of Mazda North American Operations told Automotive News Chase has been a great partner for Mazda for the last 10 years and after a thoughtful review of many options it was clear TFS can best meet Mazdas business needs moving forward Their deep knowledge of financing within the auto industry will be a good fit for our dealers and customers The SEC filing makes frequent use of the term private label but does not specify whether Toyota Motor Credit will provide financing and F I products under its own trade name Toyota Financial Services adopt the Mazda Capital Services brand or come up with another name The filing notes that Toyota Motor Credit will buy loans and leases in accordance with the Companys applicable credit policies which may be modified by the Company from time to time at its sole discretion Fed Cuts Interest Rates Again The Federal Reserve reduced the target federal funds rate to 175 in September its second quarter point reduction since late July The July cut was the first since 2008 but neither was unexpected The Fed and its chairman Jerome Powell have pledged to take all appropriate steps to maintain consumer confidence in the face of economic uncertainty There may come a time when the economy weakens and we would then have to cut more aggressively Powell said We dont know Were going to be watching things carefully the incoming data and the evolving situation The official report that followed the announcement forecasted no further cuts in 2019 or 2020 but it is difficult to predict the Feds next move Market watchers agree officials will likely hold further cuts in reserve as inflation remains below the central banks 2 target global manufacturing rates continue to slide and economic hot spots flare up around the world We are committed to making the best decisions we can based on facts and objective analysis Today we decided to lower interest rates Powell said at a press conference Were going to be highly independent as always our decisions are going to depend on the implications of incoming information for the outlook And I would also say as we often do that were not on a preset course Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell announced a quarter point reduction to the federal funds rate last month YOUTUBE PHOTO COURTESY MAZDA MOTOR AMERICA Toyota Motor Credit has replaced JPMorgan Chase as Mazdas captive finance company for U S dealers