WASHINGTON, D.C., and HANOVER, Md. -

The National Automotive Finance Association is again enhancing its annual Non-Prime Auto Finance Survey; this time by collaborating with the American Financial Services Association.

The NAF Association and AFSA announced this week they will be working jointly to orchestrate the only survey specifically focused on the subprime auto financing market. For the past 18 years, the results have been used by companies for benchmarking, identifying trends and supporting and guiding policy decisions. 

The survey is conducted by Benchmark Consulting International, which gathers and aggregates all the survey data confidentially. The data is gathered via a Web survey and incorporates Experian and Factor Trust data extracted from their traditional and alternative data credit reporting databases.

The two companies stratify and analyze the data according to their non-prime market segments specifically for the survey. This combination of information provided by AFSA and NAF Asscoation members along with Experian and Factor Trust data will provide a comprehensive overview of the industry. 

Participating companies will be given a free copy of the final report. 

“The NAF Association has always been motivated to get the highest level of non-prime auto finance company participation in the survey,” NAF Association executive director Jack Tracey told SubPrime Auto Finance News. “We reached out to AFSA with the thought that with the two organizations behind the campaign we could increase participation. 

“Historically we’ve gotten around 25 companies submitting data, but we felt that if we could increase the number of companies submitting information that the survey results would more accurately reflect industry trends,” Tracey continued. “The NAF Association enjoys the opportunity to work with AFSA when the combination of our efforts benefit the auto financing industry.”

When contacted by SubPrime Auto Finance News, AFSA shared a similar sentiment.

“We believe the Non-Prime Auto Finance Survey is an excellent resource, and we hope that making it a joint effort between AFSA and NAF will prompt the participation of more auto finance companies,” AFSA president and chief executive officer Chris Stinebert said. “Increased participation will enhance the value of the survey and the aggregated data it provides the industry.” 

For more information or how to participate, contact Tracey at (410) 865-5431 or jtracey@nafassociation.com.

AFSA Updates White Paper on Vehicle Franchise Ancillary Product Legislation

In other news, AFSA’s state government affairs committee issued a white paper earlier this week focusing on a trend in vehicle franchise legislation that affects the relationship between manufacturers, sources of vehicle finance and dealers relating to the sale of ancillary products. These products include vehicle service contracts, guaranteed asset protection (GAP) waivers and extended warranties.

AFSA highlighted the paper summarizes legislation proposed in New Jersey and Virginia and enacted in Florida, Mississippi, New York and Oklahoma during the last year. The bills include provisions prohibiting a manufacturer (or affiliated financial institution) from coercing or requiring a dealer to sell or sell exclusively their ancillary products or take action against a dealer for offering third-party products.

In some cases, AFSA noted that the provisions prohibit captive finance companies from offering exclusivity incentives to the dealer, offering finance terms to a consumer for an affiliated product that are not offered at the same time for a similar third-party product and/or requiring the dealer to disclose to the consumer when it is a third-party product.

AFSA members can download the white paper by going to this website.