For the fourth consecutive year, auto manufacturer finance companies, known as captives, earned the highest levels of overall satisfaction among Canadian automotive dealers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2001 Canadian Dealer Finance Satisfaction Study(SM) released Sept. 4. While banks are closing the satisfaction gap with the captives in 2001, independent finance providers now trail the captives in satisfaction levels by more than 20 percentage points.

Overall dealer satisfaction across the three segments of finance providers decreased 2 percent from 2000, with 73 percent of dealers surveyed saying they are "somewhat" or "very satisfied" with services provided by lenders. Captives lead the three segments with 83 percent, followed by banks at 72 percent and independents at 60 percent.

"The overall continued success of captives is a result of their strong performance in all key financial areas of floor planning, retail credit, retail leasing, wholesale leasing and account management," said Mike Tamayo, project manager at J.D. Power and Associates in Toronto. "Not only have captives outperformed the banks and independents in these areas, they also improved over their already strong performance in 2000."

GMAC performed especially well with dealers in 2001 and ranks highest in satisfaction in the floor planning, prime retail credit and retail leasing performance areas.

Floor planning remains the top finance priority for dealers, with 45 percent saying this is their key finance area. The importance of retail leasing for new vehicles, however, continues to decline — down 11 percent from its peak in 1999. In contrast, prime retail credit increased 6 percent over 2000, with 25 percent of dealers saying this is their most important finance area.

"Thanks to the steady decline in interest rates in Canada in recent months, coupled with the fact that manufacturers continue to hold the line on new-car pricing, retail credit has become increasingly important as compared to leasing," said Tamayo. "As a result, manufacturers and dealers are not promoting leasing as aggressively as they were in 1999 and 2000."

The 2001 study includes responses from more than 1,000 dealer principals and general managers of new-vehicle dealerships across Canada.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction.

The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on actual responses from millions of consumers annually.

J.D. Power and Associates can be accessed through the Internet at www.jdpa.com.