SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. -- Nearly a year since it was acquired bySanta Monica, Calif.-based technology company Zag, Autoland hasmade its own acquisition.

The car buying service, which has worked exclusively with creditunions since 1971 and is one of the largest credit union autobuying services, has acquired CU Auto Sales, a multiple-owned autobuying and leasing service credit union service organization.

Founded in 1985 by 11 credit unions based in metropolitanSacramento, Calif., the CUSO has been serving members in theRoseville, Stockton, Modesto and Fresno, Calif. markets.

"CU Auto Sales was a great fit with Autoland because theirbusiness model was very similar to ours," explained AutolandPresident/CEO Ron Frey.

"Autoland is member-centric, and the fact that CU Auto Sales wasmember-owned made it a hand-in-glove fit," he added noting thatAutoland says no CU Auto Sales employees will be laid off as aresult of the acquisition.

Frey said CU Auto Sales recognized the investment Autoland hasbeen making in technology and its call center, "and the acquisitionwas a way to inject a lot of steroids into their operation."

According to Frey, Autoland's acquisition of CU Auto Sales ispart of the company's strategy to expand to be able to better servecredit unions in a wider area. The company currently hasrelationships with credit unions in three states--California,Oregon and Washington--and Frey said Autoland is looking to expandinto new geographic areas although he wouldn't give anyspecifics.

"It's important that Autoland stay ahead of the curve to supportour credit union partners," he said, explaining that the companywill rely heavily on partnering with dealer networks credit unionsalready work with in support of their indirect programs as well asdepend heavily on its call center services and Zag'sstate-of-the-art automotive technology. "Autoland is committed toexclusively serving credit unions," said Frey. "Zag is very muchinterested in keeping Autoland focused exclusively on creditunions, and our task is to continue to grow the company so we'rebetter able to do that. Autoland's acquisition of CU Auto Sales isa great way to do that, and Zag endorses our acquisition of thecompany." He continued to explain that, "Autoland is not interestedin aggressive growth for growth sake. Our strategy isn't to see howfast or big we can grow. We're focused on being credit unions' bestbusiness partner, and then our growth to be able to better supportour business partners comes fairly easily as a result of that."

Frey said one of Autoland's unique differentiators is that thecompany does not sell cars. Instead, he said, "We're a personalconsultant to provide members and provide them with every bit ofinformation so they'll be in a better position to buy a car.

"Regardless of where they are in the car buying process, themember wants someone they can talk to about any make or model ofcar, new, used, leased--whatever puts them in a better position todecide whether to purchase or lease a vehicle. We're here toprovide members with the necessary information so they'll be betterinformed buyers. That's what most people are looking for and theycan't find. When it comes to finding and securing a car, that'sjust logistics. The magic is in the service, and that's ourdifference, that's our hallmark," said Frey.

Of course there's still a percentage of members who wantAutoland to locate a specific vehicle for them and take care of theentire transaction. For that, Autoland depends on its large dealernetwork to be able to put its hands on just the vehicle the memberis looking for. According to Frey, Autoland is tracking thedelivery of over 12,000 vehicles to credit union members this year.The company represents more than eight million credit unions andpartners with hundreds of credit unions. He estimated about 10% ofAutoland's business is for hybrid vehicles.

With auto lending forecasted to slow down the rest of 2006 andinto 2007, Frey said the types of services Autoland offers are evenmore important to members. When things get tighter economically, hesaid consumers tend to do more research and look for more pricingoptions. When they want to purchase a vehicle, they want to be alot smarter, "so they seek out organizations like ours that canhelp them make the best purchase decision. We become part of theirshopping research process."

Competition in the auto financing market will continue toincrease, and Frey opined for credit unions to be able to growtheir market share that the direct and indirect side of thebusiness "should be married and work together using similar dealernetworks. The two channels should be talking to each other forcredit unions' benefit. They may be different businesses, but theyshould have several touch points to create continuity for thecredit union industry. It makes sense, and I see that as part ofthe future," said Frey. [email protected]