Tim Russi to leave Ally Financial

UPDATED: 4/19/18 2:48 pm ET - adds details

Tim Russi, Ally Financial's president of auto finance, who led many of the business's digital initiatives and helped expand the lender's dealership reach, will leave his post immediately.

Doug Timmerman, president of Ally's insurance business, will succeed him, Ally said Thursday in a series of auto finance leadership changes. Russi, 55, will stay with Ally, one of the largest auto lenders in the U.S., as vice chairman of auto finance until Oct. 1 to help with the transition. Then he will leave the company to pursue other opportunities, a said.

Russi, 55, was a major force behind leveraging Ally's technology with emerging consumer and mobility trends to poise the company for the future. Over the last year, Ally has announced a number of partnerships and investments with digital retail and mobility companies.

"We love the business model the way it is today," Russi told Automotive News last month. "We could operate and will operate on that model for as long as consumers and dealers want to operate that way. But, we also see the trends where the marketplace can be more digitally savvy, and we're embracing all that."

Timmerman has been president of Ally's insurance business since 2014.

Throughout Russi's decadelong tenure at Ally and its predecessor, the auto finance business achieved $328 billion in originations and added 8,000 dealership partners, the statement said. Russi also developed a successful customer loyalty program, it said.

"It's due in part to his hard work and leadership that Ally is in the position of strength we hold today," Ally CEO Jeffrey Brown said in the statement.

Russi joined as COO of North American Auto Finance in October 2008, before the company's transformation into Ally the following year. GMAC became a bank holding company and took the name Ally Financial Inc. in 2010, resulting from General Motors reducing its stake in GMAC leading up to and as part of its government bailout and bankruptcy restructuring. That year, Russi became Ally's executive vice president of global auto services for North America.

Meanwhile, in 2010, GM purchased subprime lender AmeriCredit Corp. and established its current captive finance company, GM Financial. GM sold the rest of its ownership of Ally in December 2013. Also that month, Ally became a financial services holding company, which allowed it to stay in the business of insurance and F&I products such as extended-service contracts.

Other appointments

Timmerman, 55, Russi's successor, has been president of Ally's insurance business since 2014. He was previously vice president of auto finance for the bank. In that role, he was responsible for sales, risk management and portfolio management for more than 4,000 dealer relationships across 11 states in the southeast region. Timmerman has been with the company since 1986.

The company named Mark Manzo, 53, to replace Timmerman as president of insurance. Manzo was previously senior vice president of the central region and strategic alliances for the auto finance business. He will focus on forging new relationships with dealers and digital marketplaces in his new role, the statement said.

David Shevsky, 56, previously chief risk officer, was named COO of auto finance. Jason Schugel, 44, previously deputy chief risk officer, succeeds Shevsky.

Hannah Lutz contributed to this report.