NEW YORK -

Ally Financial chief executive officer Michael Carpenter likes the position the company currently has in terms of where its business development originates. Rather than strictly being a captive servant to an automaker, Carpenter prefers the current situation where Ally can provide a wide array of services directly to dealers, including consumer financing, inventory floor plans and other F&I tools.

Carpenter explained how Ally forged its way into this position this week during the Morgan Stanley Financials Conference in New York.

“We are not a bank that approaches this business with one or two commodity lines, which is mostly what you see out there,” Carpenter said. “While we have the benefit of having captive roots, and we describe ourselves as being in and of the industry, we have fundamentally repositioned the company since its days as a captive. We are no longer reliant on a manufacturer to give us business. We go out in the marketplace every day and earn our business both from OEMs and from the more than 16,000 dealers that we do business with.

“We would describe our business model as uniquely relationship oriented and dealer centric. Many of these relationships span generations,” he continued. “In fact, our average dealer relationship is 15 years. Our business model is centered around providing a premium level of service and innovation in the market as well as the fact that we have every product across the spectrum that meets the needs of dealers and their customers. We’re not just focused on one or two products. We are focused on being embedded in every way the dealers run their business. We want to be their principle and most important financial services provider.”

Carpenter continued his presentation by highlighting several achievements that reinforced Ally’s business plan. He mentioned more than 5,200 dealers use four or more of Ally’s products, which beyond consumer financing of new and used vehicles and commercial loans, also includes the wholesale resources available at SmartAuction, insurance products and service contracts as well as vehicle leasing.

The Ally boss called it the “all-in relationship” dealers are choosing to have with the company.

“Unlike some of our competitors that are high-tech and no-touch, we are high-tech and high-touch, meaning we also have 2,400 folks whose job it is day in and day out to be on the phone and in the dealerships making sure that Ally is doing whatever we can to help the dealer be successful and sell more vehicles,” Carpenter said.

“We can dial up the use of technology where we think it makes sense, but we believe fundamentally that this is a relationship business, and having boots on the ground and someone you trust, particularly as an individual entrepreneur that can help you make a deal, is fundamental to the success of our business,” he went on to say.

Beyond providing those products to move metal, Carpenter pointed out Ally Dealer Rewards Program reinforces the breadth and depth of those “all-in relationships.” If a dealer enjoys success using Ally products, the company cuts the dealer principal a check as an add-on bonus.

“That is very meaningful to the dealer principal,” Carpenter said.

Later in his presentation, Carpenter noted another area where he insisted Ally is different from other commercial banks or captive finance companies — the growth in used-vehicle financing originations.

Experian Automotive reported that Ally stood at No. 2 with a market share level at 3.92 percent. Carpenter also highlighted that Ally’s originations from dealers not connected with either General Motors or Chrysler has grown from 9 percent in 2011 to 19 percent in the first quarter of this year.

“As a captive, you don’t care so much about used vehicles. You’re concerned about moving metal for the manufacturer,” Carpenter said. “But as an independent company, we recognized that the used business is bigger than the new-vehicle business. In five years, we’ve gone from nowhere to being the No. 2 player in the business. This is a better business from a risk-reward point of view. This is a business where our knowledge in the used-car market at SmartAuction really plays into our strengths.”

Carpenter wrapped up the portion of his presentation that focused on the auto finance portion of Ally’s business with one more closing thought about how the company emphasizes its connection to dealers.

“We try to provide the dealer with every product that is critical to them to run their business and helps them sell more vehicles and helps them make more money,” Carpenter said. “We are very-well positioned for the future in auto finance.”