Denver-based Centrix Financial expects to hire 300 to 400 more employees over the next year, according to its chairman and CEO, Robert Sutton. The company, which offers auto loans to nonprime consumers, has grown from 250 employees two years ago to about 1,000 today.

Centrix´s growth is evidence of the tremendous opportunity in the nonprime segment. Centrix offers financing to credit-impaired customers with credit scores as low as 475, reported The Denver Business Journal. This allows dealers to do business with "a wider variety of people that other banks won´t even touch," said Mike Shaw, used-car finance director at Phoenix-based Courtesy Chevrolet. Centrix finances its customers at an average 18 percent interest rate.

The company also plans to finance car buyers directly through its Web site. Customers can qualify for a loan and receive a card with the amount available to them. They take that card to one of 10 to 15 dealers in the area to choose a car. The dealers in Centrix´s network will offer special discounts on vehicles and aftermarket products such as oil changes. This program is scheduled to launch in February.