Edmunds drilled deeper into its third quarter auto finance data on Wednesday, looking closer at consumer who are making a monthly payment of more than $1,000.
Analysts found four more intriguing trends, including …
Dominion DMS and Market Scan Information Systems now are working together.
The partnership announced this week means Dominion DMS will integrate key data from Market Scan’s APaaS platform, enabling Dominion’s dealers to calculate payments with exact sales tax rates in any ZIP code in every state with scientific precision using the customer’s address.
In today’s market, Dominion and Market Scan pointed out that consumers are willing to travel to various destinations to find a vehicle that meets their needs.
Historically, it has been a challenge for dealerships to quote all-inclusive consumer lease and finance payments accurately. Within VUE DMS, the sales department can accurately calculate payments and the sales tax, whether the buyer is in the dealership, across town, or in another state.
“We are excited to partner with Dominion DMS,” Market Scan president and CEO Rusty West said in a news release. “It has never been more important to present consumers with exact, consistent, and all-inclusive payment quotes online and in the store. Dominion realizes the importance and value of integrating our data into their DMS, resulting in a much-improved consumer experience.”
This relationship with Market Scan came together a few days after Dominion DMS and TruVideo aligned to help dealers in their service drive.
“Our dealer partners praise the value of this integration, especially in today’s challenging market. Dominion DMS looks forward to deepening our integration and improving the workflows through additional value-added services Market Scan offers,” said Arlene Clements, who is vice president of business development at Dominion DMS.
To learn more about Dominion DMS and its VUE DMS platform, visit VUEDMS.com.
It’s the detail that vehicle shoppers might want to know more than anything else when they’re searching online. When they find a vehicle they might like, that shopper immediately wants to know what their monthly payment might be.
To provide those details in an effort to make researching and purchasing a vehicle more interactive and seamless, TransUnion recently partnered with CarNow to better equip financial institutions with a digital solution called Auto Payment Shopper.
The companies highlighted that the result of their collaboration is that consumers will benefit from a more user-friendly and personalized vehicle-shopping experience that addresses current industry challenges such as auto affordability and availability.
TransUnion and CarNow explained that Auto Payment Shopper’s technology combines decisioning technology with real-time dealership inventory, providing a direct alignment between the finance company and preferred dealer networks. The tool is designed to empower consumers to filter available vehicles more efficiently by their desired monthly payment and know which vehicles they are prequalified to purchase — all in the comfort of their home.
The companies acknowledged that the tradition path had consumers who were in the market to buy a vehicle first navigating through the process of selecting a make and model through a dealership or manufacturer.
“Securing financing was typically a disjointed endeavor which often resulted in a lack of clarity from sticker price to determining the monthly payment amount or overall end cost,” TransUnion and CarNow said in a news release.
Auto Payment Shopper is designed to streamline the shopping process by providing financial institutions with a branded turnkey microsite that is directly integrated with their preferred dealer networks.
TransUnion and CarNow mentioned that finance companies also can take steps to simplify the application process to save significant time and expense by directly obtaining consumer documents and offering capabilities such as scheduling a test drive or to add protection products.
“This results in decreased application drop-off and generating more quality leads for dealers,” the companies said.
Furthermore, TransUnion and CarNow mentioned the interactive shopping tool also offers consumers more insight into the costs that come with a vehicle by enabling them to select various contract terms to personalize payments as well as additional options such as calculating trade-in value.
Additionally, users are able to look at immediately available vehicle inventory as well as the ability to filter for what they have prequalified for and the amount they can afford for a more interactive and seamless vehicle-shopping experience.
“Consumers have increasingly digitized the shopping aspect of their lives, including buying large ticket items such as cars, and many consumers continue to show a preference toward conducting as much of that process as possible online,” said Satyan Merchant, senior vice president and automotive business leader at TransUnion.
“The prequalification capabilities of Auto Payment Shopper afford consumers the flexibility of accurately comparing a variety of vehicles by monthly payment directly with the lender — which allows consumers to make a more informed choice as to what car is ultimately the best fit for their budget,” Merchant continued in the news release.
For more information, visit www.transunion.com/industry/auto-lending.
AutoAPR announced last week that industry investors pushed more financial resources into the fintech firm that looks to bridge the gap between traditional and digital retail with easy and secure virtual payment calculations matched to a dealer’s inventory, bringing consumers and dealers closer to a realistic completed deal.
Chief executive officer and co-founder Dan Mayer also appeared on the Auto Remarketing Podcast to share experiences as a “career car guy” who had risen through the ranks of retail automotive, decided to push forward with AutoAPR after he witnessed some dealerships going all-in on digital retail while others held fast to a more traditional showroom experience.
Mayer believes there is a “middle ground” and developed AutoAPR with these dealerships in mind.
AutoAPR thinks what matters most to seller and buyer is quickly connecting a comfortable monthly payment to the desired vehicle currently in stock. With financial requirements and product availability working hand-in-hand, AutoAPR leads are highly qualified and easier to close.
“I cut my teeth in F&I and wanted to build this solution around traditional consumer friction points and remove those from the equation before the lead even comes into the dealership,” Mayer said in a news release highlighting AutoAPR receiving investment funds from sources that were not disclosed.
“Our solution suite invites consumers to explore payment options then quickly move down funnel through additional research and value-added features,” he continued. “This results in an enhanced user experience for the customer and a high-quality, easy to work opportunity for the dealer.
“AutoAPR’s unique process and data capture give the dealer control, who then decides how to best close the deal — online or in the showroom,” he went on to say.
AutoAPR currently includes two dealer products in its auto finance engagement program: Reveal and Payment Explorer.
• Reveal, an innovative payment calculator, delivers sales leads with up to 20 data points, enabling dealers to quickly identify and close a deal. In-market shoppers can calculate their payments from any device. The solution can automate every step of the payment research process, saving shoppers valuable time, whether they buy from home or in the showroom. Dealers have the option to feature customizable incentives, accessories and F&I products.
• Payment Explorer can connect shoppers with dealer inventory that matches their lifestyle and budget. Dealers can maximize inventory turn by automatically featuring their oldest vehicles. Shoppers can factor a trade-in value into their payments by leveraging TradePending. Dealers receive new leads in their CRM with a link to each customer's payment certificate, moving a deal closer to completion.
“From inception, our goal has been to provide everything vehicle shoppers need to know about financing their next purchase in one convenient and secure location,” AutoAPR co-founder and chief technology officer Daniel Congrove said in the news release.
“The programs create realistic payment and budget expectations for the customer without requiring overly sensitive personal information,” Congrove continued. “With AutoAPR, dealers reduce transaction time, build trust and make deals more likely to happen.”
The company went on to mention that product installation is geared to be simple and customizable. AutoAPR works directly with each dealership’s web host and inventory provider to ensure proper installation and immediate usage.
AutoAPR solutions are used by franchised and independent dealers, as well as RV and powersports dealers across North America. The company offers live technical dealer support by phone or email, along with advanced dealer training and ongoing consultation.
“Our solutions are a win-win for both dealers and consumers,” Mayer said. “The details are in the data. Unlike cumbersome, and sometimes overly technical solutions, AutoAPR’s success is attributed to the proven performance measured by the total ROI for our dealer clients.”
Dealerships interested in learning more about AutoAPR and its products are encouraged to visit www.autoapr.com.
To listen to the episode, click on the link available below, or visit the Auto Remarketing Podcast page.
Download and subscribe to the Auto Remarketing Podcast on iTunes or on Google Play.
After shoppers find a vehicle with all of the features they want, oftentimes the next question they want to be answered is how much their dream car is going to cost each month.
To provide those details and more, Trusted Sale has partnered with OfferLogix to launch Trusted Car Payments — an online monthly payment calculator that instantly can calculate monthly lease or installment payments based on user input.
The companies explained that dealers create trust among shoppers by seamlessly integrating this calculator into their website, empowering shoppers to compare “penny-perfect” monthly payments between installment contract and lease options for eligible vehicles.
The OfferLogix single-call API automatically can calculate all finance company incentives, offers, rebates or special programs into the monthly payment creating a reliable, accurate, and turn-key solution.
Trusted Sale founder and chief executive officer Paul Brobson highlighted that the affordable monthly fee and simple, same-day integration can allow more dealers to deliver the digital retailing services demanded by their customers.
“Consumers have always sought trust and transparency in their relationship with dealers,” Brobson said in a news release. “Among the most popular activities for shoppers to complete online or at home include finding information on incentives and calculating monthly payments and shoppers admit feeling more in control when they can generate their own custom payment quote and save time at the dealership, increasing the likelihood of a sales opportunity and greater customer satisfaction.
“Like all of our Trusted Sale platform solutions, Trusted Car Payments represents our continuing commitment to delivering solutions that enable trust between vehicle sellers and buyers,” he continued. “In addition, OfferLogix shares our mission to provide dealers and their customers with simple, cost-effective solutions to meet the increasing demand for best-in-class digital retailing solutions, and we are excited for the future of our partnership.”
Aaron Bickart, executive vice president and general manager of OfferLogix, shared his perspectives on working with Trusted Sale
“OfferLogix is looking forward to our partnership with Trusted Sale and helping them earn the trust of vendors and consumers with our patented, single-call API solution that provides penny perfect payments for each customer, across every touchpoint,” Bickart said.
