Westcorp Announces New Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer

IRVINE, Calif.--May 4, 2005--Westcorp , the diversified financial services company whose principal subsidiaries are WFS Financial Inc and Western Financial Bank, today announced the appointment of Robert Costantino as the company's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Costantino will assume his duties effective May 9, 2005.

Costantino was formerly the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Motors Credit of America, Inc., where he was responsible for the development and implementation of a comprehensive turnaround plan that helped return the company to profitability. He concurrently served as a member of the Board of Directors of the car company and the captive credit company.

Prior to Mitsubishi, Costantino was with Volvo Cars of North America and Volvo Finance North America for 17 years where he held a number of senior financial positions culminating as the company's Chief Financial Officer. Costantino is a CPA and a member of the AICPA.

"Robert's experience is unique having been the Chief Financial Officer for both a car company and a captive finance company," said Tom Wolfe, President of Westcorp. "He has real insight into both sides of the business. His proven leadership skills and industry experience will be invaluable to helping lead our company to its next level of profitable growth."

Westcorp is a financial services holding company whose principal subsidiaries are WFS Financial and Western Financial Bank. For more information, visit www.westcorpinc.com.

Westcorp, through its subsidiary, WFS Financial is one of the nation's largest independent automobile finance companies. WFS Financial specializes in originating, securitizing and servicing new and pre-owned prime and non-prime automobile contracts through its nationwide relationships with automobile dealers. WFS Financial is a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ under the symbol WFSI. For more information, visit www.wfsfinancial.com.

Westcorp, through its subsidiary, Western Financial Bank, operates 20 retail bank branches and provides commercial banking services in Southern California. For more information, visit www.wfb.com.