When Jeffry Martin took the helm of Autoland Inc. 18 months ago,some hard decisions had to be made if the company wanted to expandon its 35-year reputation of vehicle purchasing and financingservices to credit unions.

That was April 2010. Today, the Chatsworth, Calif.-basedAutoland has 170 credit unions participating in sales and at theend of last year, it reached the $1.7 billion sales mark, accordingto Marcia Francisco, senior vice president of marketing andbusiness development.

In November, the company is scheduled to move up the coast toserve the Washington market and plans to build its presence evenmore through league and credit union associations.

This, as Autoland celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

“We took a look at the landscape to see how we could betterserve the credit union movement. We needed to do it naturally,”said Martin, president of Autoland. “Let’s stick to our corecompetency. We’re about loans, not cars.”

Autoland’s roots goes back to 1971 with a vision of providingauto buying services. Within a few years of launch, the companysaid it had attracted hundreds of credit unions. The momentumcontinued when Autoland hosted its first one-day used car show andsale in 1984.

Six years later, another milestone occurred when the firm openedits first office in a credit union in 1990. Five offices grew to 50over the next three years. In the mid-1990s, Autoland added apre-owned car locating service and went online to expand itsvirtual presence through the Web and credit union kiosks.

In 2007, Autoland further cemented its foundation within theindustry by becoming a credit union-owned entity. Today, itsCalifornia owners are the $347 million Telesis Community CU,Chatsworth; the $3.4 billion Kinecta FCU, Manhattan Beach; and the$29 million California Agribusiness CU, Buena Park.

Autoland made more changes under Martin’s watch, many of themfueled by a sluggish downturn. The executive said over the last fewyears, credit unions were internally focused on getting theirhouses in order. Autoland did the same, he noted.

“We were built to deliver 1,000 cars a month. When the economytook a hit, we had to make some financial decisions that involvedlooking at all facets of our business,” Martin said.

For one, after assessing its markets, the company departed fromthose that were not profitable but left the door open to returnafter a recovery. Indeed, that was the case with the $618 millionCoastHills Federal Credit Union based in Lompoc, Calif. Martin saidAutoland left the area but has since come back. Generally, the moreremote markets that were especially hammered by the economy wereamong the first on the chopping block.

“We wanted to create efficiencies internally to make sure themoney was in the right place and also to build back out to thosemarkets,” Martin said. “We wanted to make sure of every dollar weused to build our credit union business.”

Autoland created a direct loan delivery channel partly inresponse to the challenges some credit unions experienced withtheir indirect lending programs, Martin said. Because of lossesincurred over the past few years, credit policies have tightened,he added and the indirect aftermath remains a challenge for theindustry.

Martin, a 20-year lending veteran with experience in theindirect sector, said credit unions wanted to play in the top-tierA credit arena. It’s a very competitive area especially sincemanufacturers and larger banks tend to make it difficult for creditunions to compete there, he noted.

Being in the top tier credit sphere pushed credit unions intothe used car market, Martin said. As a result, Autoland grew thatsegment with its new to used car ratio going from 80%-20% to60%-40%, respectively. The industry’s sweet spot used to be B paperbut more credit unions are moving away, which Martin said heunderstands why.

“Competitively, there may be some challenges here with buildingloan portfolios,” Martin said. “We work very carefully with creditunions on the credit side so that they know what to expect goinginto the marketplace and how to deliver.”

Autoland had a misstep last year when the Oregon Department ofConsumer and Business Services Insurance Division discovered alicense lapse. The regulator said the company was not licensed inOregon as a business entity insurance producer from Nov. 1, 2004 toMarch 11, 2010. The lapse was found in a 2009 audit by Autoland,Francisco said. After paying a $50,000 civil penalty, the Oregonregulator confirmed that Autoland was back in good standing.

Meanwhile, the $2.1 billion Mission Federal Credit Union in SanDiego has been with Autoland for 10 years, said Debra Schwartz,president/CEO, adding over that time period, the company has seenits auto loan portfolio grow. In 2010, the credit union hadapproximately $8 million in auto loans generated through Autoland,and through August 2011, had already generated more than $6 millionin new auto loans.

“Auto lending is a key strength for most credit unions includingMission Fed,” Schwartz said. “We have always enjoyed andappreciated our strong partnership with Autoland. They know creditunions intimately, and most importantly they understand the valueof providing great service to our members.”

When Martin became president of Autoland, another decision wasto have a best practices document in place, Francisco said. Martinsaid the first concern was that the company’s credit unions did nothave specific goals for Autoland’s services. He considers goals tobe a pivotal step to loan portfolio success.

The best practices document also contained strategic marketingplans tailored to each credit union. In place since last year,Francisco said Autoland saw an immediate impact through 20 newpartnerships aided by the company’s business development plans.

“We want credit unions to provide excellent member service, beprofitable and drive loan volume,” Francisco said.

Autoland is also moving forward with a mission to help those inneed. Earlier this year, the company said for each vehiclepurchased through April 30, it would donate a portion to assistvictims of the tsunami and earthquake that occurred inJapan in March. The per vehicle contribution equated to 7% ofprofit and was sent to the American Red Cross, Francisco said.

Over the summer, a member of Eagle Community Credit Union inLake Forest, Calif. won a 2011 Nissan Sentra through an Autoland sweepstakes.

“One of the biggest things we want to do more of is givingback,” Francisco said.

The myriad initiatives in motion at Autoland were most likelypossible because Martin wasn’t the new guy on the block when hebecame head of the company. Prior to his current role, he had beenan executive vice president for four and a half years atAutoland.

“I’m blessed with a senior management team that has asignificant amount of experience,” Martin said. “As autos go, sogoes credit unions. We have a high retention rate with loans andcredit unions have embraced what we have to offer.”