Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation (NMAC) and its Infiniti Financial Service Division (IFS) announced they have selected the Siebel Automotive Captive Finance Solution Set as the centerpiece for its Strategic Technology elevation Plan (SteP). As the financial services arm of Nissan North America, NMAC is pursing this initiative in order to contribute to Nissan's overall corporate growth and profitability goals for the next several years.

Nissan's three-year strategic blueprint for sustained global growth, "Nissan 180," calls for the company to sell an additional 1 million additional vehicles and achieve 8 percent operating margin and zero debt. To support these corporate objectives, NMAC must accommodate the higher sales volume, as well as increase its penetration in financing these vehicles.

"When we looked at our current environment -- with our home-grown customer care applications and manual processes -- we realized that we didn't have a system in place that could support this rapid growth," said Sean Hicks, senior manager and STeP communications manager. "After looking at the available options, it was clear that Siebel Automotive was the best fit for our needs. It has industry-specific functionality and built-in best practices that will help us become more efficient and productive. It will give us the single customer view that everyone today is striving to achieve. As a result, we'll be able to do a better job of driving customer and dealer satisfaction. And the multichannel capabilities will make it simpler and faster for customers and dealers to do business with us."

Specifically, Siebel Automotive says its multichannel capabilities will provide service agents with a complete customer contact history, regardless of whether the contact occurred by phone, email, the Web, voice response, or other means. The multimedia agent desktop consolidates all of the customer interactions occurring across these channels and in turn provides the information necessary to intelligently answer inquiries and resolve issues. Therefore, whether customers are on the phone inquiring about the status of their accounts or making a lease payment online, they will receive service that reflects their complete customer history with NMAC. This history will also be leveraged as existing customers approach a new vehicle purchase decision, because NMAC's use of Siebel Marketing will help the company identify and work with customers as they evaluate new vehicle offers. Regardless of where they are in the ownership cycle, customers will enjoy a consistent experience across all touchpoints and channels, thereby increasing customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention, says the company.

"The unique combination of automotive and financial services functionality provided in Siebel Systems' out-of-the-box, industry-specific solution will allow us to accelerate the implementation process and ensure low total cost of ownership," continued Hicks. "Automation and the implementation of best practices will keep everyone working productively, so we can absorb the increased volume without driving up our costs. And that translates into higher margins and increased profitability."

About Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation

NMAC and its Infiniti Financial Services (IFS) division purchase from their dealers throughout the United States retail and lease contracts for the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. NMAC also provides wholesale floorplan, equipment, capital and mortgage loan financing to Nissan and Infiniti dealers. These programs and services are made possible by the approximately 700 employees of NMAC & IFS, who are located at our corporate headquarters in Torrance, California and at NMAC's Customer Service Center in Dallas, Texas, as well as a nationwide network of Financial Services Managers who work directly with Nissan and Infiniti dealers. Together, NMAC and IFS service over $15 billion in outstanding loans and leases for approximately 1 million customers. In addition, NMAC and IFS service over $1.6 billion in outstanding commercial loans.

About Siebel Systems

Siebel Systems, Inc. is a provider of eBusiness applications software, enabling corporations to sell to, market to, and serve customers across multiple channels and lines of business. With more than 3,500 customers worldwide, Siebel Systems provides organizations with a proven set of industry-specific practices, CRM applications, and business processes. Siebel Systems' sales and service facilities are located in more than 28 countries.