“Window” to build motor finance market share will be limited, warns iVendi
The time available for dealers and lenders to build market share for motor finance will be limited and must be maximised while the opportunity remains, warns motor industry technology specialist iVendi.
The company says that, if the economy continues to grow consistently, there will inevitably be a gradually returning risk appetite on the part of personal lenders and they will re-enter the market in an increasingly aggressive manner.
James Tew, director at iVendi, said: “Personal lenders will return to the motor sector at some point in a fairly dramatic fashion. The question is when? The answer probably depends on the macroeconomic picture but, if the economy continues to pick up, we may see their credit rules relaxed in as little as a couple of years.
“This means that there is a limited ‘window’ when dealers and lenders can make the most of a relatively open market for motor finance, building market share and making it the default choice for anyone buying a new and used car.
“Essentially, what needs to happen is that they use this period to become very good at promoting and selling motor finance, building a bulwark for when personal lenders return and the market becomes more competitive.”
James added that there were already a number of key initiatives in place across the market designed to achieve this, with the accent on a “sell through” motor finance model that places an emphasis on effective dealer sales processes.
He said: “Through our work with motor finance lenders, we can see that there is a lot of work going on in the market to promote and sell motor finance in new and stimulating ways.
“We also, of course, are involved directly with products such as our Quoteware and Car Finance Checker, which are designed to create innovative ways of selling motor finance to the customer online through a process of engaging, converting and transacting. These are very interesting times.”
iVendi produces the Quoteware and Car Finance Checker online products that are designed to integrate into dealer web sites and help them increase the online penetration of finance products. They are in use at more than 1,000 dealer locations across the UK.