Credit Union Direct Lending (CUDL), a point-of-sale lending network for credit unions, announced a marketing partnership with the AutoNation owned dealerships in Southern and Northern California. The 43 Power Automotive Group dealerships within the Southern region and 20 AutoWest and AutoNation dealerships in the North will join more than 1980 dealerships on the CUDL network and will offer credit union financing for their customers throughout the state. CUDL will assist AutoNation dealerships in building relationships with credit unions currently participating on the program.
The AutoNation dealerships including Power and AutoWest are automotive retailers of new and used vehicles, on and off the web, with over 370 franchises in 17 states. The Southern California, and many of the Northern California dealerships, recently changed their names to make it easier for customers to recognize the affiliation with AutoNation when shopping and servicing vehicles.
"This is a great partnership that will help our credit unions and their auto buying members," comments Jerry Neemann, Sr. vice president of CU Direct Corporation. "The centralized process allows credit union members to locate the vehicle at a dealership closest to their home, complete with a pre-negotiated competitive price, and receive their credit union financing."
In Southern California, Power Automotive Group has developed relationships with several local credit unions and are authorized to sign on new credit union members at specified dealerships.
"This is part of our new campaign to make the car buying experience a more consistent and customer friendly process at all our dealerships," commented Michael Randles, of the Southern California Power Automotive Group. "We are excited for this opportunity to help credit unions provide their members with a convenient and easy way to purchase their vehicles."
About Credit Union Direct Lending
Based in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, CU Direct Corporation administers the Credit Union Direct Lending (CUDL) program, which allows members to receive credit union financing at the auto dealership through an automated decisioning system. CU Direct develops custom applications, training, and marketing programs to help credit unions achieve their indirect lending goals. The CUDL program includes 1,985 dealerships and 262 participating credit unions in California, Nevada, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Florida, Minnesota, and Virginia. In 2002, participating CUDL credit unions funded 177,011 contracts for more than $3.3 billion in credit union auto financing. For more information visit www.cudirect.com.
About AutoNation
AutoNation, Inc., headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is a retailer of both new and used vehicles. Ranked No. 93 on the 2003 Fortune 500 and a component of the Standard and Poor's 500 Index, AutoNation employs approximately 28,500 people and owns and operates 373 new vehicle franchises in 17 states. For additional information, please visit www.AutoNation.com, where more than 100,000 vehicles are available for sale.
