MINNEAPOLIS — FICO insists more vehicle lenders are synchronously migrating to the FICO 8 Auto Score — with most companies set to complete the adoption process by May.

Officials indicated a number of lenders have already migrated to the FICO 8 Auto Score, including captive, bank and non-prime lenders such as Volkswagen Credit, Santander Consumer USA and First Investors. FICO also pointed out a majority of the top 35 lenders plan to migrate through April and May.

In addition, FICO believes the nearly 18,000 franchised dealers and the majority of the more than 30,000 independent dealers using credit scores in the industry are also expected to migrate to remain in synchronization with their lender partners.

FICO asserted the industry-wide migration to the new FICO 8 Auto Score can allow lenders and dealers to jointly share more consistent information as they finance vehicle sales and, because of the score's ability to better assess risk, extend credit to their customers with greater confidence.

Furthermore, officials noted rating agencies and the general financial services community also use FICO Scores for their analyses of the auto industry.

"FICO seeks to help lenders position themselves for growth while controlling risk in their portfolios," stated Mark Greene, chief executive officer of FICO.

"Moreover, FICO knows well that the credit quality of the automotive consumer has changed over the last couple years," Greene continued. "While there is cautious optimism around growth opportunities for the auto market in 2011, FICO realizes that sharper risk prediction tools are critical to our clients' long-term profitable growth."

Greene went on to emphasize the auto industry adoption of the FICO 8 Auto Score is part of a broad-based migration to the FICO 8 Score, which is currently being used by more than 3,500 banks and finance institutions across multiple lending lines such as bankcard and mortgage.

"To minimize risk and increase profits, lenders need updated credit scores that incorporate the latest data and analytics for credit risk assessment," stressed Craig Focardi, senior research director at TowerGroup.

"Updated credit scoring analytics enable lenders to upgrade their loan underwriting and account management practices, which has a direct impact on the bottom line," Focardi concluded.