Partner Interview
Published March 3, 2025
Credit Acceptance, Capital One, Westlake: Competing for Subprime Auto Loans
inpractise.com/articles/credit-acceptance-capital-one-westlake-competing-for-subprime-auto-loans
Executive Bio
Former Manager of Originations at Westlake
Interview Transcript
Disclaimer: This interview is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. In Practise is an independent publisher and all opinions expressed by guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of In Practise.
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And what about profitability? How profitable is this?
Don has a benchmark. If he's not making a 21% return on his portfolio, he'll invest elsewhere. He can make that in the market. As a major investor, you know 15% is normal. If you're not getting 15%, you're wasting your time.
This is a snippet of the transcript.to get full access.
Yes. But despite that, the 2022 situation, just because car prices are so inflated, I think defaults have been worse than they were historically.
Westlake was really good at this. A lot of people don't know this, but back when the recession first hit, all they did was give payment extensions, and that's how they kept their book current. They literally did it for eight months straight. It definitely hurt their revenue, but it kept their book current, and they were able to stay afloat. Especially when they know tax season comes and they get all the checks back. It's either that or someone's so upside down and they want to get a second vehicle. Westlake will say, "Okay, you're in default, but you bring it current, and I'll fund this deal." All they're really doing is taking whatever down payment you have for that vehicle and giving the dealership a lesser net check. They're really good at working a deal, is the best way to say it.
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