New F&I Initiatives Spark Strong Dealer Interest

Two new-concept finance & insurance exhibitors report high dealer interest as they appeared for the first time at a National Automobile Dealers Assn. annual convention and exposition.

They are RouteOne LLC, a one-system Internet clearinghouse for all of a dealer's loan applications and ExpressLink, a provider of point-of-sale vehicle insurance.

At this year's convention in Las Vegas, RouteOne staged its first exhibition floor booth presence and also distributed brochures at display areas of its four co-owners — General Motors Acceptance Corp., Ford Credit, DaimlerChrysler Financial Services and Toyota Financial.

RouteOne, headed by former Ford Credit operations chief Michael D. Jurecki, is emerging from an extended pilot of its Internet software at 32 dealerships prior to a nationwide rollout.

On the eve of RouteOne's NADA debut, another exhibitor, DealerTrack Inc. filed a patent infringement suit against it. Jurecki calls the suit “without merit” and announces that still another exhibitor, subprime specialist Centrix Financial, has joined the RouteOne portfolio.

ExpressLink is tackling the vehicle-insurance field directly as an F&I business opportunity. Licensed in five states, it wants to facilitate contacts with F&I managers so that uninsured motorists or those seeking lower premiums can be sold vehicle insurance along with other F&I products.

To date, only Ford Credit and BMW Financial Services have promoted F&I departments for arranging vehicle insurance, using Liberty Mutual as the insurer.