Help OEMs By Helping Car Buyers, Ford Exec Says

LAS VEGAS – Lenders should help OEMs overcome barriers that make automobile financing more difficult for consumers, says Joy Falotico, Ford’s chief marketing officer and president of the automaker’s Lincoln luxury division.

Speaking at the American Financial Services Assn.’s Vehicle Finance Conference here, Falotico says auto finance, for example, has room for improvement in the area of innovative payment solutions.

“Digital payments – that, to me, is going to be just huge. I don’t know about you, but I hardly carry much cash anymore, and the kids want me to (electronic-funds-transfer app) Venmo everything,” she says. “I think we could be leaning, as an industry, into that.”

Falotico was appointed to her present position in March 2018. Earlier in her career, Falotico was a prominent AFSA member, serving as chair of the trade group’s Vehicle Finance Div. She also is the former chairman and CEO of captive finance company Ford Motor Credit.

“I feel like I’ve had five or six different careers, all at one company” in 31 years at Ford and Ford Credit, Falotico tells Bill Himpler, AFSA president and CEO, while they shared the stage in a “fireside chat.”

The AFSA conference is being held in conjunction with this weekend’s annual National Automobile Dealers Assn. convention and exposition.