GM Financial looking at floorplan financing in US

Automotive News is reporting that GM Financial in the U.S. plans to begin offering wholesale loans to dealers by year-end.

The move, analysts say, would created additional competition in the U.S. market and lead to better deals for dealers.

GM Financial CEO Dan Berce told the publication that loans would expand options for floorplan financing.

“Today, Ally Financial provides floorplan financing to more than 70 percent of GM dealers,” Berce told Automotive News. “The fact that we'll enter the market and have a platform that we'll build to scale is going to give the dealers the best deal, whether it's advance, structure, rate, service.”

GM acquired GM Financial, formerly AmeriCredit, officially on Oct. 1, 2010. The company then acquired FinancialLinx in Canada and began running a full line lease origination program for Canadian GM dealers in April.

In an interview with Canadian AutoWorld in April, GM Financial communications manager Heidi Heck, said much of the Canadian program would be modeled on the U.S. version.

When asked if GM Financial Services Canada would expand into floorplan financing during that interview, Howard Cobham, SVP of dealers services, noted it was too early to make any judgements.

There is no word now based on this latest news if the Canadian arm is examining expansion into floorplan financing north of the border.

U.S. sources say GM Financial will identify a group of dealers to test the floorplan program by the end of this year.

Berce said he would a national rollout sometime next year.

- With files from Automotive News