Byline: Donna Harris
An increase in allegations of shady finance and insurance practices at auto dealerships has sparked interest in an industry certification and testing program.
About one in 10 finance managers at new-car dealerships in the United States has been certified by the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals. The trade association, of Bedford, Texas, trains dealership finance managers in legal and ethical matters.
The association is certifying 100 finance professionals a month, double the rate of two years ago, says Dave Robertson, the group's executive director.
About 4,300 finance professionals are certified in the United States and about 200 are certified in Canada and Europe. Robertson estimates there are about 40,000 finance managers at U.S. car dealerships.
The program has been endorsed by some auto manufacturers' captive finance companies and large insurance vendors, and large dealership groups increasingly are making the course part of their personnel training.
"If you have big class-action lawsuits and dealers get slammed, everyone wants to get certified,'' Robertson says.
The college-level course costs $670 per person and includes a self-study textbook, six-part CD lecture series and an examination.
Some large dealership groups require their finance managers to be certified. For example, Asbury Automotive Group Inc., a publicly held dealership group in Stamford, Conn., gives its finance managers two tries to pass the test. If they fail the second time, they are fired.
All 210 of Asbury's finance managers were certified by November.
Hendrick Automotive Group, of Charlotte, N.C., requires certification for finance managers who want to be promoted.
Ferman Automotive Group of Tampa, Fla., which requires the program for finance managers, promotes the association's logos on business cards and in print advertising. It is extending the training requirement to sales managers and general managers.
Legal compliance "is vitally important to us,'' says Ferman Automotive spokesman Frank North.
Four captive finance companies - American Honda Finance Corp., Chrysler Financial Co. LLC, Ford Motor Credit Co. and General Motors Acceptance Corp. - are members of the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals.
GMAC and American Honda Finance certify their field agents through the program. GMAC also trains and certifies dealers in the program.
"Honda came on line three months ago and is in the process of working on a dealer-level program,'' Robertson says.
State dealer associations in Hawaii and Montana also have endorsed the program.
"We think we are seeing more responsible selling practices,'' says Tom McCollum, vice president of financial services for Asbury. "This is an aspect of our business we take seriously.''
CAPTION(S):
Dave Robertson, head of the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals: "Everyone wants to get certified.''
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