NEW YORK — Ally Financial’s 2015 originations total remained flat from a year ago, with the former captive originating $41 billion in auto loan in 2015, the firm announced this week. But that’s losing General Motors’ subvented lease business last year.
Ally had originally projected originations in the high $30 billion range for the year, but the 53% increase in non-GM/Chrysler originations helped the former captive surpass its originations target. That segment, which the firm refers to as its growth channel, accounted for $12.7 billion of total originations for the year, up from $8.3 billion in 2014.
“The auto finance business was tested this year,” said CEO Jeffrey Brown. “While we have been transitioning to be able to withstand the decline in legacy subvented business, this was the year where the strength and resiliency were tested and proven.
“We fully replaced all the incentivized volume and delivered quality originations,” he added.
For the fourth quarter, auto and lease originations totaled $9.3 billion, up 3% from the prior year. New-vehicle originations accounted for about $4.8 billion of that total, while leases accounted for $1 billion. Used-vehicle origination accounted for about $3.4 billion of Ally’s fourth-quarter originations.
Additionally, non-GM/Chrysler originations grew by 5% from a year ago, while lease originations fell 16% from the year-ago quarter.
Net income for the year rose 12% from 2014 to $1.3 billion. For the fourth quarter, net income totaled $263 million, a 49% increase from the prior-year period.
“Strong asset growth and a good mix of originations drove higher net financing revenue,” said Christopher Halmy, Ally’s COO.
Ally’s auto franchise posted pre-tax income of $333 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of $42 million over the same quarter last year. Ally officials also commented on the finance source’s growing dealer network.
“Ally’s dealer relationships were up 8% year-over-year to almost 11,000; and we’re not just getting into more dealerships, we’re improving our penetration over time with these dealers,” Halmy said.
Overall, Ally’s active dealer network grew 5% in 2015 and now encompasses over 17,500 dealers. Much of that growth is due to new finance relationships Ally has forged with Mitsubishi, Aston Martin, Mclaren and Beepi, officials said.
Ally Financial’s Ally Premier Protection Plan, the vehicle service contract program the company launched last June, has grown to represent nearly half of the company’s service contract volume in the fourth quarter.
“This product is critical to our diversification efforts in the insurance business and the team is doing a great job of getting it into the marketplace,” Brown said.
