The Beginnings of Auto Financing

Ennio Manto
Aug 22, 2017 · 1 min read

Ennio Manto earned an MBA from one of Boston’s top universities. Ennio Manto was responsible for structuring loan approvals to enhance the firm’s consumer lending portfolio.

Auto financing is almost as old as the automobile industry itself. While the advent of mass production made cars more affordable to the American middle class, many still weren’t able to pay cash for them. It was General Motors that developed the auto credit system for loaning car buyers the money they needed to purchase a new vehicle.

In 1919, General Motors president Alfred P. Sloan and his management team created a financing company called the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC). Many of the first loans required the buyer to pay 35 percent down in cash, and the balance of the loan had to be paid back within 12 months. The thinking at the time was that the full loan amount had to be paid off within a year because, after that, the cost of necessary repairs to the vehicle might hinder the customer’s ability to meet his loan obligations.

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Ennio Manto

Ennio Manto also excels at leading finance teams and cross-departmental projects. He has served as the financial controller for a Boston-based company.

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