1:03 pm, May 10, 2017
AUTO TRADER has enhanced its trade adverts with the introduction of a finance calculator, helping dealers attract and appeal to a bigger finance audience than ever before.
The service, which is free to existing customers until early 2018, gives dealers the option to show a monthly price and finance calculator in their adverts, powered by their own choice of lenders and interest rates.
The new service has been developed to help dealers better compete with specialist finance providers, banks and price comparison sites by offering consumers greater convenience and transparency. It also gives dealers the opportunity to embed discussions on finance earlier in the car buying process. Potential buyers can choose their ideal deposit, term (in months) and mileage to establish their preferred finance package and then send their finance enquiry directly to the dealer. Quick, simple and transparent.
The new features were developed in partnership with Codeweavers, a leading technology provider specialising in motor finance quotes and calculations. The launch follows extensive testing, during which 850 customers trialled the service, creating 50,000 adverts with finance, resulting in 37 million advert views and two million calculator interactions.
Paul Harrison, head of motor finance at Auto Trader, said: ‘At Auto Trader we’re committed to providing our customers with the most powerful tools possible to compete in today’s increasingly competitive and complex marketplace. Finance has become one of our industry’s biggest performance drivers, however all too many dealers are missing out on the opportunity to promote their available offers early in the buying process when consumers are making their key decisions. That’s why we created this new functionality as a priority, which we feel gives our customers a competitive advantage. Importantly, it also creates greater transparency for car buyers, helping them to understand their different product options online to help them make a more informed decision in the showroom.
‘This is the first step in creating a complete finance solution. In the summer, we’ll also be introducing the ability for consumers to search by monthly price, which will put finance at the heart of car buying on Auto Trader and help give transparency to millions of car buyers.’
Shaun Harris, sales director at Codeweavers, added: ‘Codeweavers is delighted to have partnered with Auto Trader and we share their vision of helping dealers improve their finance performance and giving consumers transparent information about finance, earlier in their car buying research. Our flexible technology means dealers can specify the lenders and interest rates used to power their finance offers displayed in their Auto Trader adverts. These offers can be customised based on make, model, value and age of the vehicle – giving dealers complete control.’
Adding the finance calculator to adverts is a straightforward process. Dealers confirm their Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) firm reference number, and then select their preferred finance providers and representative APR. This enables their finance offer to be displayed within their Auto Trader adverts that are eligible for finance, ready for consumers to see and interact with. There is no requirement for dealers to be an existing Codeweavers customer to use the service.
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