WASHINGTON - With the Internet affecting virtually every part ofconsumers' daily lives and buying habits, it's little wonder thetechnology is playing an increasingly larger role in the autobuying process, from researching vehicles through to the actualpurchase. That's why it's important that credit unions leverageonline auto buying tools and vehicle purchasing services to growtheir auto loan portfolios and market share. How large a market isonline auto shopping and research? Callahan and Associates examinedit closely in a Webinar on June 30. Joining in on the Webinar were:Bill Eveline, president, National Buyers Federation; Mike Federoff,director product sales, Credit Union Direct Lending; and ChrisAndrus, AVP of Auto Expert, a wholly-owned auto buying CUSO ofRiverside County's CU.Twenty-six credit unions also participated inthe event. Answering his own question, Callahan's Senior IndustryAnalyst John Marron offered the following data for participants toconsider: more than 5% of all Web searches are for researching andpurchasing vehicles; auto sites get more than 60 million hits permonth; more than 62% of all new car buyers used the Internet; andapproximately 25% of all auto site visitors buy a car within threemonths. What that means, said Marron, is that with consumers'online auto purchasing options increasing and becoming moreimportant, credit unions must make sure their Web site iswell-designed and easy to navigate if they expect to remaincompetitive in the auto buying market. Marron reinforced his adviceby citing some statistics from Genex, an Internet development andconsulting firm - nearly 65% of consumers said they won't patronizea poorly designed site; more than 30% said that Web site design ismore important than a great product; and about 30% said they wouldstop buying from their favorite offline stores if their onlineshopping experience is poor. There are various online auto buyingservices designed expressly for credit unions that are available tothem. The National Buyers Federation's CarQuotes is a credit unionauto buying service that's worked with about 95% of credit unionsin the Chicago area for more than 25 years. It includes a completevehicle purchasing and research center for CUs and their members.The CarQuotes' Web site - www.carquotes.com - is uniquely brandedfor each CU. The NBF describes the objectives of CarQuotes as:identifying potential auto-loan prospects to increase CU loanvolume; increase cross-selling opportunities; increase memberretention; attract new members; increase credit unions' overall Website traffic. Eveline warns credit unions to beware of links to theWeb sites to sources such as Kelly Blue Book, North America DealersAssociation (NADA) Guides, CarFax and other online lenders such asE-Loan. They are your competitors, he says, for auto informationand loan financing. CUDL's Federoff says the company's online autobuying program - cudirect.com - gets 55,000 unique visitors eachmonth, and more than one million hits a month. It expects that toincrease in September when CUDL's redesigned Web site becomesavailable. New features will include vehicle inventory information,reviews, rebate information, and road test and safety data."Basically everything a member wants to know about a vehicle beforethey buy it," he says. Other enhancements will include featuressuch as a link to credit union rates and online loan applications;credit report education and information; robust vehicleconfiguration; and co-branding. "It's very important to keep themember on the CUDL site so they don't go anywhere else forinformation," says Federoff, adding that any credit union will beable to use the Web site as their own, even in markets where CUDLisn't operative yet. Lastly, Riverside County's CU's Auto Expertworks with seven local CUs and offers them free auto buyingservices. Andrus says the CUSO currently brokers about 150 carseach month. The process is simple for the member, says Andrus,because Auto Expert handles all the issues involved with purchasinga new vehicle: members phone, email or come to a CU branch; theAuto Expert advisor talks with them about the vehicle they have inmind; the advisor locates the vehicle and works with the member'sCU lending team for the financing; the member comes to a convenientbranch of their CU and takes delivery of their vehicle in less than30 minutes. The idea, says Andrus, is members never have to setfoot on a car lot. -

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