LAS VEGAS — Credit unions have done remarkably well recently in repairing once-troubled ties with auto dealers, but work still needs to be done on speeding up approval times, a former Evansville, Ind. dealer and automotive publisher told CU executives Thursday.
"The scars are healed" from the days when CUs would bluntly tell members dealer rates were too high or would skim off finance/insurance products for themselves, Greg Goebel, president/CEO of Auto Dealer Monthly, said.
Goebel, who spent 18 years owning dealerships in Kentucky/southern Indiana and now also runs a Sarasota, Fla. consulting and training business, was a keynote speaker at the ninth annual Auto Lending Symposium of Credit Union Direct Lending held at the Venetian Resort Casino.
Recommended For You
"I know we're a perplexing group of people," admitted Goebel in describing auto dealers and yet a national survey his magazine took this year of 287 dealers shows marked progress in how dealers view CUs. One dealer, which he did not identify, said he made $500,000 in profit last year "as a result of my relationship with a credit union."
The Sarasota consultant suggested, however, CUs do a better job of courting finance managers apart from maintaining good rapport with dealer/owners because the finance team "calls the shots" in selecting financial institution providers. He said some in the survey expressed frustration at slow loan approvals and cumbersome paperwork in dealing with CUs.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
