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Here are top 10 auto financing trends and events, according to Walter Cunningham, who tracks such things as president of BenchMark Consulting International:

1. The number of national banks in indirect auto financing is stable.
2. “Independent” auto financing institutions continue to grow.
3. Credit unions expand into the prime auto-financing market “creating a competitive and brutal market.”
4. Dealer application portals, such as Route One and DealerTrack, “continue to dominate the F&I desk.”
5. Electronic processing continues to expand — “but slowly.”
6. OEMs/captives continue to struggle with competition and credit ratings.
7. Incentivized financing “just seems to keep on rolling.”
8. Dealer reserve (and consumer education) gain priority through the efforts of the National Automobile Dealers Assn.
9. Shifting of outsourcing/offshoring continues to evolve.
10. Auto lease securitizations picked up steam in 2006, nearly doubling, from $7.5 billion to $14.3 billion.