Auto Finance Summit 2025 shed light on how auto lenders are responding to challenges facing the wider market, including credit performance, affordability and evolving technologies. 

Following subprime buy here, pay here lender Tricolor’s Sept. 10 Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, auto asset-backed securities spreads widened, Kayvan Darouian, director of consumer asset-backed securities research at Deutsche Bank, said during an Oct. 15 presentation at the event. Still, Tricolor’s challenges do not represent issues facing the wider market, he said. 

Further, subprime share has “come back in the last 12 months,” and lenders should be competitive in the near prime sector, Scot Hensel, finance director at Kunes Auto Group, said during a fireside chat at the summit. 

Auto lenders are also leaning into AI and technology to drive efficiencies. GM Financial, for example, is piloting a digital app for dealers to manage their businesses and track information such as deal volume and floorplan balance, President and Chief Executive Susan Sheffield said during a fireside chat. 

Meanwhile, third-quarter bank earnings so far point to growth in auto originations and improved credit performance. Ally Financial’s auto originations rose 24.5% year over year to $11.7 billion, while Wells Fargo Auto’s originations soared 114.6% YoY to $8.8 billion. Bank of America’s net charge-offs across its direct and indirect consumer portfolio also decreased 1 basis point YoY to 0.2%. 

Listen as Auto Finance News Editor Amanda Harris and Associate Editor Aidan Bush dive into the top stories from Auto Finance Summit 2025 and highlight key takeaways from third-quarter bank earnings.