The Catalyst

Banks today are writing less than half of the auto loans they did even a few years ago.  They want their business back.

In other words, now is a good time to help the local bank begin to recapture the business lost to credit unions.   An even better opportunity exists to help your local credit unions maintain — if not build upon — the momentum they have created in auto lending.

This battle between banks and CUs won’t be ending anytime soon, but the big window of opportunity for local media is right now.  They need your plan to make it happen, today!

About a decade ago, before our industry truly began pursuing credit unions as consistent local retail advertisers, credit unions owned about a 3% share of the auto lending market.  Today, according to Steve Finlay of Ward’s Dealer Business, this share has ballooned to 22%.  (Steve will be presenting at ESA’s ROI2011 Conference in January.)

Banks have suffered from a double-edged sword recently.  Not only has their share of auto loans shrunk considerably, but there are also far fewer cars being purchased today.  They’ve seen millions of auto loans migrate to credit unions, and many more disappear altogether.  You may have noticed they’re starting to make some noise.

You have the plan and the resources to make this happen right now — this window of opportunity won’t be open much longer.

Dave Eckstein is a partner in the firm ESA & Company, based in Red Bank, New Jersey. Dave specializes in highly profitable market share growth for local business and gets a kick out of demonstrating a declining cost of customer acquisition for his clients.