During several conference calls in a row, Ally Financial highlighted how much its auto finance business is crucial to the future success of the company, and continuing to foster relationships with dealers is paramount to extending its recent string of achievements.

Now, Ally’s new chief executive officer is coming directly from its dealer financial services business.

The company announced late on Monday that Jeffrey Brown has been named Ally CEO, effective immediately. Brown, who most recently served as president and CEO of Ally's dealer financial services business, also joined Ally’s board of directors.

Brown succeeds Michael Carpenter, who is retiring as chief executive and from the board. The company added Ally chairman Franklin “Fritz” Hobbs will work closely with Brown on all areas of the business.

“Jeff Brown is an extraordinarily talented executive with deep financial and operational experience and a strong vision of how to take Ally forward into the future,” Hobbs said.

“Jeff joined the company in 2009 as corporate treasurer. In 2011, he became executive vice president of finance and corporate planning, where he oversaw the company's finance, treasury and corporate strategy activities. And, in March 2014, he was named CEO of Ally's Dealer Financial Services business,” Hobbs continued.

“The breadth of experience Jeff has gained during these transformational years at Ally has prepared him fully to take on leadership of the company as it enters its next chapter,” Hobbs went on to say.

Prior to joining Ally, Brown was the corporate treasurer for Bank of America where he had responsibility for the core treasury functions, including funding and managing interest rate risk. Brown spent 10 years at Bank of America, beginning his career in finance and later joining the balance sheet management division.

During his tenure at Bank of America, Brown also served as the bank's deputy treasurer and oversaw balance sheet management and the company’s corporate funding division. He was also a member of the company’s asset/liability management committee.

“I am honored to be Ally's new CEO,” Brown said. “We are one of the country's largest providers of automotive financing products and services, combined with the consensus premier direct banking franchise in the country. 

“We are absolutely committed to continue serving our millions of retail customers and nearly 17,000 auto dealers with market-driven, innovative products and services supported by 7,000 dedicated Ally employees,” he continued. “We have the focus, resources and capability to take advantage of opportunities. 

“We are well positioned to meet the challenges of the evolving OEM market, meet our origination goals, serve our customers better than ever and improve returns for shareholders,” he went on to say.

Last week, Carpenter conducted what turned out to be his last quarterly conference call as Ally’s CEO. Carpenter was outspoken not only about Ally’s future prospects despite not having captive finance company allegiance from either General Motors or Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles. The now former Ally leader also took a strong stance about keeping SmartAuction in the company portfolio.

“Michael Carpenter has done an outstanding job as CEO and as a Board member since joining us at an especially difficult and pivotal time in 2009,” Hobbs said. “Among many other accomplishments, he led our rebranding as Ally; strengthened our financial and market position; restructured a former captive finance company to be the premier, independent auto finance provider; and made Ally a leader in the growing direct banking space. He also successfully completed our initial public offering (IPO) in 2014 and positioned the company to exit this past December from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which we had entered in 2008."

Noting that the U.S. taxpayers made $2.4 billion on their investment in Ally, Hobbs added, “Mike stepped in when we needed him most. Ally is a stronger and more focused financial services company today because of him, and it has a great future thanks to his tireless leadership over the past five years.

“I am particularly pleased that Mike has agreed to serve as a consultant to the board.  On behalf of the entire board, I thank him for his many contributions and wish him well for the future,” Hobbs went on to say.

Reflecting on this time at Ally, Carpenter described the company as being a “tremendous success story on many levels.”

He continued by saying, “I am proud to have been part of it, working alongside so many tremendously talented people as we built what is today the country's leading auto finance provider, powered by a growing direct bank.

“Having completed our IPO last April and exited TARP in December with a strong balance sheet and a market leading position, it is the right time for me to step aside to hand the baton to the next generation of leadership,” Carpenter added. “I have been working with the Board for several months on succession planning, and I am pleased that Jeff Brown, who was my recommended successor, has been chosen as Ally's next CEO. I have great confidence in Ally's future and believe it will continue to grow from strength to strength.”

Cerberus Capital Management chief executive officer Steve Feinberg also weighed in on the change of leadership at Ally. Cerberus still has a significant ownership stake in Ally.

“Both as a director and the representative of one of Ally's largest shareholders, I am extremely enthusiastic about Jeff Brown's assuming leadership of the company,” Feinberg said. “He brings energy, experience and strategic rigor to the job.

“Having observed Fritz Hobbs' leadership of Ally's board for the past five years, I am particularly pleased that Fritz and Jeff will be working closely together guiding this company for many years to come,” Feinberg went on to say.