REDMOND — Microsoft Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. announced a strategic relationship to collaborate and create a next-generation dealer management system based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The solution will utilize the Windows Azure platform, taking advantage of the economies of scale and flexibility offered by Microsoft’s public cloud offerings, according to Nissan.

“Customer loyalty and retention are essential to the success of any business. Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps businesses better understand and build deeper relationships with their customers and partners,” said Kirill Tatarinov, president, Microsoft Business Solutions.

The new DMS will initially be rolled out to Nissan’s dealership networks in Japan and other strategic regions across the globe, according to the company. The system will have the flexibility to be customized for the needs of a specific country, region or automotive manufacturer, with broader availability to be explored in the future, reported F&I and Showroom magazine.

Nissan also intends to explore how Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Windows Azure can work together as a platform to deploy applications across the company’s global network and to standardize its information architecture on the cloud, according to Nissan.

“We are delighted to be working with Microsoft to deliver the next-generation dealer management system,” said Andy Palmer, executive vice president of Nissan. “Nissan is seeking a solution that will help meet our business needs, especially to better understand our customers and dealers.”

Everyone in the supply chain, from the provider to the consumer, benefits from immediate access to information. The popularity of smartphones and tablets has created a whole new platform to reach the consumer through the proliferation of mobile apps. First, let’s take a brief look at how the OEM’s are embracing mobile apps, then we will explore how providers and administrators are already beginning to innovate.

Today, the smartphone has changed the information landscape in ways no one could have dreamed of as recently as the 1990′s. The single most appealing aspect of a smartphone for a business and the potential to connect with its customers is the fact that the device goes everywhere with the user. As the cell phone morphs from a voice communication device into a personal information portal, how can we capitalize on this trend and bring more value to our customers?

Ford has been a trailblazer with the launch of AppLink, which allows SYNC users hands-free voice activation of mobile apps like Pandora. Mercedes Benz’s mbrace allows users to interact remotely with their vehicles using the iPhone and Blackberry for such things as remote door lock/unlock, vehicle finder, concierge services, and contact assistance for roadside assistance, customer service, and their financial client care center.

OEM’s like Porsche and Kia are using mobile apps for marketing. Porsche has a mobile app that provides information on the Pamanera, while Kia has not developed its own branded mobile app but advertises through third parties within other apps. Ford and Mercedes Benz, by delivering mobile apps that interact with the vehicle and provide useful services, may be better positioned to capitalize on this burgeoning technology because only 10% of users think ads on mobile devices are acceptable.

If a mobile app is a better website and is a clever answer to the question, “Who is going to type in lengthy URL’s into a smartphone?,” a mobile app is just like a “favorite” or a “bookmark.” Mobile app developers are combining information and functionality, not just in the smartphone, but within the vehicle itself by the use of third-party apps rendered via smartphones into the vehicle head unit. OEM’s like Hyundai, with its monitored telematics solution BlueLink, Ford’s Focus Electric and the Nissan Leaf are hosting connected services directly into the head unit as native apps.

Mobile apps, whether accessed from a smartphone or a tablet, offer opportunities for the provider or administrator to connect with its supply chain. “Communication through mobile devices is becoming an integral requirement for most businesses and this part of the auto industry is no exception,” states David Trinder, CEO of F&I Admin.

Connecting administrators and consumers through mobile apps can provide information to VSC contract holders to better maintain their vehicles. Allstate Dealer Services, through their mobile app CarMor Vehicle Care Center, offers consumers free access to manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedules, recall alerts, a vehicle maintenance log, details of the service agreement, and dealer contact information.

The apps are free, easy to download, and are accessible from the smartphone or tablet “desktop.” Once in the application, while browsing through, for example scheduled maintenance, the user may find coupons and specials that apply to the next service. This increases the likelihood of a visit to the selling dealer. The possibilities for marketing tires, quick lane service, and other accessories and services through the mobile app are limitless and dovetail nicely with the dealer’s fixed operation retention efforts.

The possibilities for mobile apps to connect administrators with inspectors, agents, and dealerships are just over the horizon. F&I Admin’s innovative leap into this arena is just the start of what will surely be a growth sector within our industry. The company maintains that as an F&I administration solutions provider, it is crucial that they deliver the latest technologies and capabilities. Trinder sums it up by saying, “Providing mobile solutions is imperative if the intention is to provide the tools you need, the connections you need, and a system that helps you grow your business and build efficiencies in every way possible.”

These devices and applications could expose pertinent data that are contained in a variety of repositories to users. “Imagine the value to agents and other field staff,” says Trinder, “when the provider delivers mobile access to updated contract information, sales production reports, and territory analysis.”

Agents play a huge role for providers as an independent, indirect sales force. Supporting agents with real-time analytics and tools to help them understand the dealer’s activity keeps both parties on the same page and will improve customer service. Better customer service for the agent and dealership generally results in higher revenues for the provider.

Implementing mobile devices and applications is an inevitable technology solution for insurers. F&I Admin’s COO, Kumar Kathinokkula, told P&A, “Just as system integration and industry standardization provide significant efficiencies for providers and administrators, mobile devices and applications bring about efficiencies in business processes and administration through immediate access to information.”

The potential efficiencies of utilizing mobile apps which Kumar speaks of regarding business processes has not translated yet into marketing and sales in our vertical. An interesting quote from Jim Stogdill, writing for a website about emerging technologies, reads: “You aren’t buying a computer when you buy an iPad, you are buying a 16GB Wal-Mart store shelf that fits on your lap…and Apple got you to pay for the building.”

Substituting the name of your company for Wal-Mart in the above quote raises some interesting possibilities. Since many mobile apps are really web pages without URL’s, is there a way to monetize them? What about a mobile app that offers answers to FAQ’s a consumer may have about vehicle service contracts, then asks them to select which brand of vehicle they are contemplating purchasing? The app then directs the consumer to the nearest dealership selling that brand, and coincidentally sells your products. Would a dealer pay for that lead?

We are seeing just the tip of the iceberg today with mobile apps. Major vehicle manufacturers like Ford, Mercedes Benz and Porsche, and content providers like YouTube, Pandora, and Twitter, are working feverishly to meld hand-held devices with content, services, and marketing. The vehicular mobile app landscape is in its infancy, and innovators within our own community are already exploring the opportunities that this exciting technology has to offer.

The software and technology industry is one of the fastest changing and most influential industries affecting businesses of all types across the globe. As new technology becomes available, so does new opportunities. These opportunities are available and can be utilitzed by almost any industry, and in almost any business process including finance and accounting, Sales & Marketing, and product advancements/improvements and innovations.

For providers and administrators in the Automotive F&I industry, many of the technological advancements remain invisible because the advancements that affect the products & services available are oftentimes behind the scenes.

Looking back over the past year and reviewing what was hot for 2010, some of the “hot items” were:

Though this list was compiled from several lists that were suggested software and technology hot topics applicable to businesses in any industry, many of the items on this list have been integrated into the software and products of the corporations that advertise, contribute, and read P&A eMagazine and eNewsletter.

This is evident in the many articles we published not only in the Software and Technology channel, but as expressed in many of the press releases and published news items as well. For example, since the beginning P&A eMagazine in early 2010, hot topics included Administration Systems such as SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions, Web-based solutions such as StoneEagle Group’s Secure Sales Tool (SST), and many other Electronic Processes such as OFAC checks, electronic vehicle service contract rating from within a menu, e-contracting and digital signatures, real-time contract delivery and debiting of accounts, EFT processes and more.

Many of these products and services mentioned, as well as those not mentioned, have come about as a result of new and/or improved web applications, instant & virtual technology, the need for additional portability and improved and reliable security solutions.

Integration was, and continues to be, another largely discussed topic of 2011 which incorporates instant & virtual technology, portability, and security into its capabilities and processes. And let us not forget the Red Flags rule and all of the software and technology that many companies are installing so that they can comply with its rules and regulations.

Many articles such as SaaS or Build: Which Administration Works Best for You (January 2010), Service Drive Opens Door to More VSC Sales (February 2010), Great Product Needs Great Process (April 2010), Relying on Technology Partners to Reach Dealer Goals (May 2010), and The Integrated Industry: Software Fact or Fiction? (June 2010) are all great examples of how providers and administrators in the automotive F&I industry are using and building software and technology that is directly related to these categories to make business more competitive, efficient, and profitable.

When P&A eMagazine began in early 2010 and throughout the year, many of the same items that were “hot” for 2010 are also “hot” for 2011, such as:

And the new one on the block is:

Although, Virtual Cloud Services were a “hot” item for 2010, they are even more so for 2011. Take Box.net for example. This company is a startup company which offers online storage lockers (the same concept as Cloud computing – meaning that it can be called up on any device with an internet connection). In 2010, Box.net closed out the year with five (5) million users, and according to a company representative it’s revenues tripled for last year, and they are anticipating steady growth and to double its workforce within the next 18 months. Now that’s growth!

We are all familiar with Mobile/Web Applications, and the influx of press releases are proof that companies are continuing to create access to products and services via mobile devices. They are here to stay!

Virtual Technology will continue to be an important part of information technology and the internet as it allows for a great deal of work to be accomplished from anywhere – home, airport, or anywhere you may be traveling. Voice recognition technology is a huge part of this and several large companies including Google & Microsoft.

Connectivity (and Portability) will continue to be a hot topic as the need for reliable cell signals and internet accessibility in remote areas is required. This hot topic is evident in the success of the iPad and arrival of many other tablets since it’s success.

And finally, Scalability. Though this is a new term to the group of Hot Topics, its importance is no less significant. Scalability (for those of us who initially look at this from the standpoint of “to scale” or measurements) is the idea that if the software or technology cannot grow with the corporation or with the product or service that it is associated with, it will most likely become obsolete in a short period of time. This is because the time and costs involved in manually improving or “growing” your IT capabilities can grow exponentially. In today’s economy, corporations are looking to maintain or cut costs, not continually add costs (especially ever-growing costs) to their operations.

As providers and administrators in the automotive F&I industry had incorporated “generic” hot topics in their products and services in 2010, they are doing so in 2011. P&A eMagazine recently spoke with several advertisers and contributors in the automotive F&I industry to see what the hot focus for their respective companies are, but that will need to be revealed in next month’s issue.

WASHINGTON – After dissecting Toyota’s engine control software and bathing its microchips in every type of radiation engineers could think of, federal investigators found no evidence that the company’s cars are susceptible to sudden acceleration from electronic failures, the government said Tuesday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that the sudden acceleration was caused by mechanical problems in some Toyota models — sticking accelerator pedals and floor mat interference — that it had previously identified as causes, reported The New York Times.

The findings, reached after a 10-month investigation, neither implicated Toyota nor exonerated it any further than had been the case after the earlier investigation.

Toyota eventually recalled more than 11 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles globally because of floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals. It also paid three fines totaling $48.8 million, because, the Transportation Department said, Toyota had not reacted appropriately to reports of problems.

“The jury is back,” said Ray LaHood, the transportation secretary. “The verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas. Period.”

An engineer from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, brought in to help conduct the inquiry, was slightly less categorical but still emphatic.

“It’s very difficult to prove a negative,” said Michael T. Kirsch, a principal engineer with NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center. But the electronic system for throttle controls in Toyotas would require two separate sensors to fail simultaneously in such a way that neither created an “error code” in the vehicle’s onboard computer.

There were relatively few instances of even one sensor failing, said Mr. Kirsch, who added that investigators had access to Toyota’s designs, engineering and warranty data.

Mr. LaHood and other officials were also quite diplomatic about a likely cause of the unintended accelerations — pushing on the accelerator instead of the brake. On Tuesday department officials called these “pedal misapplications,” and when a reporter asked if the problem was drivers making a mistake, Mr. LaHood shot back from the podium, “Nobody up here has ever insinuated the term that you used, driver error.”

In a statement, Steve St. Angelo, Toyota’s chief quality officer for North America, said the automaker hoped the study would help put to rest questions about the reliability of Toyota’s electronic systems.

Shares of Toyota rose 4 percent to close at $88.57, gaining momentum as news of the report leaked out ahead of the announcement on Tuesday afternoon.

The government said it was considering new research, on “the placement and design of accelerator and brake pedals, as well as driver usage of pedals, to determine whether design and placement can be improved to reduce pedal misapplication.”

It is also considering proposing rules, this year, that would require a standard method to turn off the engine so the driver does not have to insert a key into the ignition. It is also considering a requirement for “event data recorders,” a step it has long resisted. Many cars already have such recorders, simplified versions of an airplane’s “black box,” which capture data in the last few seconds before airbags are deployed, and keep information like engine speed, brake and accelerator application, and power of impact.

Wade Newton, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers, which represents most of the large carmakers, said his group did not oppose a requirement for the recorders. “Our biggest concern would be making sure there was proper lead time — particularly for automakers that have previously elected to not install E.D.R.’s in their vehicles,” he said. “They’ll need extra time for designing, engineering, fine-tuning and working with supply chain issues to put these devices into autos.”

The findings of the Toyota investigation were similar to those of a preliminary government report released in August. In fact, the finding vindicated not only Toyota but the safety agency itself.

“N.H.T.S.A., America’s traffic safety organization, was right all along,” Mr. LaHood said. He said the Transportation Department had ordered the search for an electronics problem because in the hearings on Capitol Hill, at which he testified last year, “just about every member of Congress didn’t believe that we had found the problem, which was floor mats and the sticky pedals.”

“As a former member of Congress, I thought we should listen to these members,” said Mr. LaHood, who represented a district in Illinois until President Obama named him transportation secretary. Speaking of his former colleagues, he said, “I hope they get the message today.”

In claiming victory, though, Mr. LaHood was far different in his tone toward Toyota than he was last year when news of the acceleration problems broke. At one point, during a Congressional hearing, Mr. LaHood said that owners of recalled Toyotas should stop driving the vehicles if they were having a problem and take them back to the dealers, though he quickly backtracked.

On Tuesday he praised Toyota for its plans to establish a $50 million safety center in Michigan.

In a statement, the highway agency said that NASA engineers had evaluated the electronic circuitry in Toyota vehicles and analyzed more than 280,000 lines of software code for any potential flaws that could initiate unintended acceleration.

As with the report on Tuesday, the preliminary examination given to Congress in August found no evidence of flawed electronics in vehicles that crashed. That examination found only one instance in which an accelerator pedal became trapped under a floor mat and none in which a pedal became stuck or sprang back too slowly.

The recalls have marred Toyota’s reputation for high quality and safe vehicles, hurting sales for much of the year. Toyota said its sales were down 0.4 percent in 2010; it was the only full-line automaker to report lower sales last year.

In response to complaints, Toyota has begun to install a brake override system, which allows the brake to stop the vehicle even if the accelerator is pressed simultaneously, as standard equipment across its lineup by the end of this year. The company also set up a panel so customer complaints are relayed more quickly to headquarters.

The iPad, Apple’s hot new tablet computer, has been on the market only since April. But already it has become a tool for dealers, automakers and at least one finance company, Automotive News reported.

Ohio Mercedes dealer Bernie Moreno was one of the iPad’s early adopters.

The day the iPad reached stores, he had his daughter wait in line so he could be among the first buyers.

Moreno, president of Mercedes-Benz of North Olmsted, near Cleveland, started using the iPad in his dealership right away.

“The idea is: How can you use this to your advantage and improve your experience and separate your dealership from everybody else?” he said.

The device is thin, wireless and graphics-rich. Its display is large enough that sharing information on the screen is easier than with a smart phone. It costs $499 to $829.

Dealership employees can carry the device with them as they work with customers, instead of staying behind a desk.

For Moreno, the hand-held device has proved to be handy for checking in vehicles as they come off lease. The entire transaction can be handled right at the car, with the customer participating in the walk-around inspection.

Moreno is also one of 40 Mercedes dealers helping Mercedes-Benz Financial test an iPad app that launched last month. The app is a portable version of MB Advantage, an online system that dealers use for finance and insurance transactions, such as credit applications and vehicle-specific marketing programs.

Moreno was already using the iPad when he learned Mercedes-Benz Financial was working on the app.

The iPad app follows on the finance company’s smart-phone app, which lets customers pay their bills using a mobile device.

“It’s an opportunity for the dealer to integrate the sales and financing processes,” said Andreas Hinrichs, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz Financial. That eliminates the need to take customers away from the car and into a separate office to handle F&I matters, he said.

But the iPad also has value as a symbol, Moreno said. It shows customers that the dealership is not just high-end, it’s cutting-edge.

“It sounds kind of corny, but it’s pretty cool,” Moreno said. “They’re blown away by the iPad in the first place.”

In Europe, Volkswagen AG has launched a digital customer magazine, called DAS, especially for the iPad. DAS is short for Digital Automotive Space.

At Hyundai, buyers of the Equus luxury sedan will get an iPad, rather than a traditional owner’s manual, when the vehicle debuts this fall.

Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik told reporters at the New York auto show: “Who reads a 300-page manual anyway? Instead, they’ll have a gorgeous color touch screen, loaded with the manual electronically, as well as photos of the whole Hyundai lineup.”

As of early June, Apple had sold more than 2 million iPads worldwide. Moreno said that even when the novelty wears off, the device will remain useful.

“You find more and more ways to use it,” he said, and “you wonder how you ever did without it.”

In an environment where compliance and sales put an equal amount of pressure on the dealer, a dealer’s technology partner may be able to simplify the process and achieve dealer goals.

In this down market, with tight credit criteria and lenders being hesitant with advances, product penetrations have taken a hit. Dealers are looking for ways to offset those losses, and perhaps they should be looking to their technology partners for help. Aiding with compliance, sales and paperwork, technology providers may be the key to helping dealers maximize each opportunity and protect the dealership at the same time.

Jim Maxim, president of MaximTrak, says his company wants to make the transaction in F&I a seamless process for rating, disclosing, printing, and remitting. “Imagine having the ability to integrate with DMS (Dealer Management System) to generate a custom F&I menu, run the customer’s credit, generate an OFAC check and Red Flags check, verify the customer’s identification and send the deal to a lender credit portal, all in 30 seconds.  This technology exists today and has an immediate impact: more time to build value and sell, less time entering data in five or six different programs.”

Jeoff Dafforn, chief technology officer for VisionMenu, adds, “We’ve found that independent agents or account reps are in the best position to ensure that a process is followed by the dealers personnel. When they buy-in to the electronic process, as consultants for the dealer, they are the check and balance the dealer needs. This also adds value to their proposition to the dealer.”

Paperless F&I: e-Contracting

A paperless vehicle transaction is where our business is headed, but we’re not there yet.  Some dealers are still printing finance contracts, electronically printing the service contract, then printing DMV forms and a tire and wheel contract. The process has not become completely digitized because the different parties—lenders, product providers and state and local governments—have not agreed on a standard electronic protocol.

The innovators in a paperless F&I office are the lenders and menu companies, and we’re starting to see some product providers move towards e-contracting.  Lagging are the state and local authorities; one reason is that each state has its own rules. It is unlikely that there is a “one-size-fits-all” electronic DMV form that all 50 states will adopt, but the industry can remain hopeful.

Many companies, however, are working toward making the process completely electronic on their end and the menu is a good place to start.  Eventually, the process is bound to become completely digitized. For example, people are gearing up for touch screens with products like iPhones. In the future, the F&I process will become more interactive. Although F&I managers will never go away, they need to embrace consumers and create a more dynamic, open and credible environment.

VisionMenu’s Dafforn says, “Electronic contracting only gets better when the DMS providers advance this cause with the help of more uniformity with vendors’ web services.”

While digitizing the workflow saves time, it can also ensure compliance. A properly designed menu with full disclosure, signed by the customer, is a crucial safeguard in protecting the dealership.  And because different states have different standards, the menu should provide the ability to customize disclosure statements to fit specific requirements.

“A dealer wouldn’t let the F&I department hand write a retail installment contract, so why would they ever let it hand write a menu that some think becomes a defacto part of the installment agreement?,” Dafforn says.

Built-in accountability or tracking functionality is another feature to look for when considering any F&I compliance technology. A “dashboard” can help a dealer identify strengths and weaknesses in business, keep track of monthly and annual profit levels and highlight behaviors that could negatively affect the dealer.

“There’s no hiding from the numbers,” Maxim explains. “Business intelligence with real facts and figures drives better business.”

One thing these figures might show is that VSCs are still the flagship F&I product for most dealerships. VSCs and any dealer-reinsured maintenance programs get focus because they bring people back to the selling dealer and capture the service aspect of the business.

Dealers are trying to capture business in creative ways, like offering perks with the purchase of a vehicle, and if these perks can bring the customer back to the dealership for service, there is a 75 percent chance that customer will buy another car at that dealership.

One way dealers can increase the sale of VSCs with the help of a technology partner is through menu selling. It is structured, yet non-confrontational to customers. In addition to providing a low-pressure environment and giving the customer choices, integration with VSC lenders allows the client to rate with the lenders in real time, showing the customer all options that are available with the vehicle being purchased. This provides a credibility factor in the F&I process

Technology can bring focus and give people the tools to analyze business in an intelligent way.

One of the strategies Maxim suggests for F&I managers to analyze business intelligently on the finance side of things is to consolidate bank partnerships. If lenders get a lot of business from a dealer, they will occasionally look at less favorable deals and advance automatically.

“A lot of captive finance arms have been helping the loyal dealerships for years,” Maxim says.

“Custom reporting can help dealers evaluate who is getting their paper, as well as how much they are making when they finance through each finance source,” VisionMenu’s Dafforn says. “It gives them the ability to leverage their position with the lender by being informed about who they are making money for.”

And even though F&I managers should be looking at creative ways to get deals financed, lenders are beginning to loosen up a bit.

“There are signs of life out there,” Maxim says. “A lot of things are starting to pop back. The standards in automotive financing are definitely loosening from where they were in 2008 and 2009.”

A paperless vehicle transaction is where our business is headed, but we’re not there yet. Some dealers are still printing finance contracts, electronically printing the service contract, then printing DMV forms and a tire and wheel contract. The process has not become completely digitized because the different parties—lenders, product providers and state and local governments—have not agreed on a standard electronic protocol.

The innovators in a paperless F&I office are the lenders and menu companies, and we’re starting to see some product providers move towards e-contracting. Lagging are the state and local authorities; one reason is that each state has its own rules. It is unlikely that there is a “one-size-fits-all” electronic DMV form that all 50 states will adopt, but the industry can remain hopeful.

Many companies, however, are working toward making the process completely electronic on their end and the menu is a good place to start. Eventually, the process is bound to become completely digitized. For example, people are gearing up for touch screens with products like iPhones. In the future, the F&I process will become more interactive. Although F&I managers will never go away, they need to embrace consumers and create a more dynamic, open and credible environment.

VisionMenu’s Dafforn says, “Electronic contracting only gets better when the DMS providers advance this cause with the help of more uniformity with vendors’ web services.”

Compliance and Accountability

While digitizing the workflow saves time, it can also ensure compliance. A properly designed menu with full disclosure, signed by the customer, is a crucial safeguard in protecting the dealership. And because different states have different standards, the menu should provide the ability to customize disclosure statements to fit specific requirements.

A dealer wouldn’t let the F&I department hand write a retail installment contract, so why would they ever let it hand write a menu that some think becomes a defacto part of the installment agreement?,” Dafforn says.

Built-in accountability or tracking functionality is another feature to look for when considering any F&I compliance technology. A “dashboard” can help a dealer identify strengths and weaknesses in business, keep track of monthly and annual profit levels and highlight behaviors that could negatively affect the dealer.

“There’s no hiding from the numbers,” Maxim explains. “Business intelligence with real facts and figures drives better business.”

One thing these figures might show is that VSCs are still the flagship F&I product for most dealerships. VSCs and any dealer-reinsured maintenance programs get focus because they bring people back to the selling dealer and capture the service aspect of the business.

Dealers are trying to capture business in creative ways, like offering perks with the purchase of a vehicle, and if these perks can bring the customer back to the dealership for service, there is a 75 percent chance that customer will buy another car at that dealership.

One way dealers can increase the sale of VSCs with the help of a technology partner is through menu selling. It is structured, yet non-confrontational to customers. In addition to providing a low-pressure environment and giving the customer choices, integration with VSC lenders allows the client to rate with the lenders in real time, showing the customer all options that are available with the vehicle being purchased. This provides a credibility factor in the F&I process.

Technology and Lender Relationships

Technology can bring focus and give people the tools to analyze business in an intelligent way.

One of the strategies Maxim suggests for F&I managers to analyze business intelligently on the finance side of things is to consolidate bank partnerships. If lenders get a lot of business from a dealer, they will occasionally look at less favorable deals and advance automatically.

“A lot of captive finance arms have been helping the loyal dealerships for years,” Maxim says.

“Custom reporting can help dealers evaluate who is getting their paper, as well as how much they are making when they finance through each finance source,” VisionMenu’s Dafforn says. “It gives them the ability to leverage their position with the lender by being informed about who they are making money for.”

And even though F&I managers should be looking at creative ways to get deals financed, lenders are beginning to loosen up a bit.

“There are signs of life out there,” Maxim says. “A lot of things are starting to pop back. The standards in automotive financing are definitely loosening from where they were in 2008 and 2009.”