Communication is key to GM Financial's continued success under new leadership, according to retiring GM Financial President of North America Operations Kyle Birch.

"There'll always be challenges for lenders and dealers, even in the best of times," he told Auto Finance News.

"We talk a lot about sales, funding, credit performance, customer satisfaction, profitability — the list goes on. But if we're not talking about that with our dealer customers [or] in the lending industry, then we're not helping our dealers sell more cars.”

Birch's tenure with GM Financial spans nearly 16 years, He has been president since February 2018 and before that chief operating officer and executive vice president of GM Financial North America. He also was with the captive's legacy company, AmeriCredit Financial Services, for 13 years.

Jonas Hollandsworth, executive vice president and COO of North America, will succeed Birch in September.

"He knows what to do and how to do it well, especially with our dealer customers," Birch said of Hollandsworth. "He'll dive deeper on the consumer side of our business and spend more time growing and learning about our Canadian business."

In this podcast, Auto Finance News editor Amanda Harris and GM Financial's Kyle Birch talk about his tenure at the captive and preparing the next generation to lead.

The auto asset-backed securitization market remains resilient as a funding outlet for many issuers and originators.

“It's an important source of capital for us,” Michael Gustafson, chief financial officer at lender Arivo Acceptance, tells Auto Finance News. “The primary driver for us is getting critical mass and building up the portfolio to drive the right economics in securitization."

West Valley City, Utah-based Arivo in July closed a $221 million transaction backed by nonprime and subprime auto loans, marking its first ABS deal of 2026 and seventh overall. The company had penciled in an ABS deal for late Q2, largely as a function of originations growth and freeing up capacity in its warehouse lines, Gustafson says.

Investors appear to be more selective compared with 2025 amid headwinds including consumer affordability, interest rates, inflation concerns and geopolitical uncertainty, he notes.

“That said, we saw robust demand across the capital stack,” Gustafson says, noting that new investors joined Arivo's order book for the latest deal.

Arivo expects to be in the market a couple of times a year as it looks to expand its footprint and grow its portfolio. The lender historically has come to market one to two times per year.

“The more often we're coming to market, we become even less sensitive to the timing. ... You're able to absorb some of the market volatility more easily because you're repricing more frequently,” Gustafson says.

Credit characteristics of Arivo's latest pool were in line with its previous issuance in July 2025, according to a July 20 Morningstar DBRS presale report:

• The number of loans in the pool was 6,782, compared with 7,331;
• The annual percentage rate was 19.6%, up from 19.32%;
• The original term was 72.19 months, up from 71.86 months;
• The loan-to-value ratio was 125.9%, up from 122.98%;
• The share of loans with no FICO was 5.5%, down from 6.14%.

In this podcast episode, Auto Finance News Associate Editor C.J. Moore and Gustafson discuss Arivo's latest auto ABS deal, its tie in with Ken Garff Automotive Group, subprime consumer health, funding costs and more.

Ally Financial, Capital One and Huntington Bank posted mixed results in the second quarter for auto originations and credit performance.

Ally Financial’s auto originations rose 20.9% year over year in Q2 to $13.3 billion, while Capital One's auto originations increased 18.9% YoY to $12.9 billion. Huntington Bank's auto originations, however, decreased 39.1% YoY to $1.4 billion.

Delinquencies were also mixed, with the rate of auto loans 30-plus days past due down YoY at Ally and Capital One but up at Huntington. The auto net charge-off rate rose YoY at Capital One and Huntington but declined at Ally.

Tesla, meanwhile, produced 451,758 cars, up 10.1% YoY, in Q2 and delivered 480,126, up 25% YoY. The EV manufacturer's lease penetration decreased to 1.6% in Q2 from 1.7% a year prior but was up from 1% in Q1.

Leasing continues to help consumers access lower monthly payments. AmeriTrust Financial this month launched a program with direct car-buying company Military AutoSource to provide new- and used-vehicle leasing for military service members.

In funding news, Pagaya Technologies issued its largest auto asset-backed securitization deal at $750 million as the fintech continues to see strong investor interest and auto volume.

In powersports, industrywide boat sales increased 3.6% YoY to 5,292 units in June. Retailer MarineMax reported a 2.1% YoY dip in finance and insurance product revenue in its fiscal third quarter alongside a 7.1% YoY decline in same-store sales.

Harley-Davidson Financial Services' originations also increased 10% YoY in Q2 to $940 million while motorcycle sales increased 3% YoY to 29,751 units in North America.

In this episode of “Weekly Wrap,” Auto Finance News Editor Amanda Harris, Senior Associate Editor Aidan Bush and Associate Editor C.J. Moore discuss second-quarter trends across sales, finance and insurance revenue, powersports and funding.