JULY 27, 2017

F&I is one of the most important departments and biggest profit centers in an auto dealership. The WardsAuto F&I Resource Center keeps F&I professionals up to date with the latest trends and best practices so they can perform their jobs more effectively and profitably. Visit the F&I Resource Center regularly to stay on top of your game.

Consumers Pretty Good at Self-Evaluating Trade-Ins

Four years ago, Juan Flores of Cox Automotive fielded a couple of skeptical questions from dealers at a meeting where he explained a then-new online tool that lets consumers calculate the value of their potential trade-in vehicles. “So customers are evaluating their cars?” a dealer asked incredulously, wondering about the possibilities of the do-it-yourself efforts leading to overvaluations and imprecise condition reports.

Accessory Sales Become Attractive to Profit-Squeezed Car Dealers

Roadster, the online vehicle-purchasing website, just announced an online accessories tool that should send important notice that dealers can no longer wait until customers visit their stores to market and sell add-on products.

As Lending Goes, So Goes the Auto Industry

Consumer access to affordable credit spurs auto sales, as the industry has seen in the last two years of record deliveries. But the auto-loan growth rate is ebbing. It was about 5% year-over-year in 2016 as opposed to 10% in 2015.

Credit Scores Expected to Rise, Some Artificially

Credit bureaus Experian, Equifax and TransUnion announced they will remove some tax-lien and civil-judgment data from credit reports. They will remove records that don’t include a person’s name, address and either a social security number or date of birth.

Sales Down, Incentives Up and Credit Scores Fall, But Not to Worry

Vehicle sales are down, automaker incentive spending is up and some consumer credit scores have fallen. But no need for handwringing, say Mark Scarpelli and Steven Szakaly, chairman and chief economist, respectively, for the National Automobile Dealers Assn. That trio of apparent negatives needs perspective, they say during an economic briefing with journalists.

Meet Your Friendly F&I Manager – Five States Away

Traditionalists contend the best way to sell finance and insurance products is one-on-one at car dealerships. After all, they say, getting customers to buy F&I products – ranging from extended service contracts to gap insurance to wheel-and-tire protection plans – requires a skilled salesperson who highlights needs and value. But who says the F&I manager and customer must be in the same room? Or even the same state.

‘Getting to a No-Haggle Model’ at Car Dealerships

The dealership world has not officially converted to no-haggle vehicle pricing. But it is getting close, says John Pappanastos, president and CEO of EFG Companies, an F&I product provider and trainer. “The whole model is changing in the way cars are sold.”

ADVERTISEMENT