Online motor market place Auto Trader is to launch a monthly price search function on 20th December.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorised dealer are currently able to show their finance offers within their Auto Trader adverts, with a monthly cost displayed alongside the purchase price. According to the site, approximately 4,500 dealer customers display their own finance offers in this way.
At the moment, customers cannot search by monthly price, however, and only FCA authorised dealers can advertise finance.
When the new feature, developed in partnership with Codeweavers, launches at the end of December, customers will be able to search by monthly cost, and dealers that are not FCA authorised will be able to offer finance options on their Auto Trader adverts provided by Zuto.
Auto Trader’s retailer and consumer product director, Jason Biffin, said: “We know just how influential finance is for today’s car buyers, many of whom view the affordability of a car based on their available monthly budget, and not the total price of the vehicle. However, in many cases, before a dealer has had the opportunity to discuss finance options in person, as part of their online research buyers have already secured their finance from other providers. We wanted to give our customers a competitive advantage with the opportunity to promote their own offers much earlier in the buying process when consumers are making their key decisions.”
Biffin added: “We want to ensure all of our customers can capitalise on the increasing role of finance in today’s car buying journey. Even if a dealer is not authorised by the FCA, car buyers will still have access to up to 70 different finance products from 17 lenders, including Barclays and Santander, through our trusted credit broker and longstanding partner, Zuto.”
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By GlobalDataAuto Trader also said it planned to make the new finance search function a ‘key part’ of a new consumer focused marketing campaign, due to launch over the Christmas period, which will cover television, radio, digital and outdoor advertising.
