HOUSTON — There is finally some good news for dealerships and credit unions thanks to a new Auto Financial Group product that allows the companies to offer customers a new financing option which insures vehicle residual values.

Auto Financial Group, an online provider of residual-based financing products for credit unions, rolled out the Driving Sense product recently as part of its "Good News" campaign.

The product offers lease-like benefits of a balloon loan to dealerships, credit unions and their members, and can help remove the financial risk to a credit union by guaranteeing the predetermined residual value of the vehicle through third-party insurance.

"We have never seen a better time for our Driving Sense product since the inception of our business in 1999," said Auto Financial Group president Richard Epley. "It is a product that provides dealerships with a valuable financing option to keep customers coming in, credit union members with lower payments and credit unions with a higher yielding loan, a combination of features that are simply unmatched in the current marketplace."

The Driving Sense product allows credit unions to "build" a vehicle for their members, compare payment terms with conventional loans and offer lower payments — as much as 40 percent lower — flexible two- to six-year terms, ownership of the vehicle and end-of-term options.

It also handles the vehicles disposition at the end of the term. Auto Financial Group is paid one low administration fee for each Driving Sense loan, and credit unions earn all the interest.

For more information, visit www.autofinancialgroup.com.