GAINESVILLE, Ga. -

National Auto Research — parent company of Black Book — says it has a new tool that can instantaneously allow lenders to update the values in their entire vehicle portfolio on a daily basis. 

The company’s new software, ValuEngine, accomplishes this task via cloud computing and Microsoft OneClick technology.

Black Book noted that there are move than 10,000 lenders and 60,000 dealers throughout the country who assess vehicle values for several different purposes; be it dealers selling or buying vehicles and offering trade-in values or for lenders using vehicle valuation to help shape decision-making during all steps of the lending process.

“The vast majority of these transactions are done one at a time on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis,” officials noted.

So, what makes this product stand out, officials said, is that it can go to “almost any source” and collect raw data “for any number of records” and then standardized it.

Once collected and formatted, it can be combined with Black Book vehicle valuation data for lenders to analyze, change and adjust, as needed, the company explained.

The company will be on hand at the Auto Finance Summit in Las Vegas to introduce and demonstrate ValuEngine starting Tuesday of next week.

“Banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions have always monitored the health of their portfolios, but the dramatic changes within the lending industry over the last several years have necessitated a much more comprehensive, real time approach,” stated Tom Cross, Black Book president.

“With ValuEngine, lenders get a better understanding of what is actually on their books and indications about future performance,” he noted. “This enables them to make better decisions throughout the loan process, including underwriting, account management, collections, and remarketing.”

He added: “For example, they might see that they tend to over lend in a certain vehicle segment and are exposed to too much risk, or conversely may see that they are too conservative in other segments, thus missing out on profitable business.

“In either case, ValuEngine processing allows them to make profit maximizing changes to their strategy on the fly. In essence, it helps financial institutions make critical lending decisions in a timely and accurate manner,” Cross concluded.