When you examine the trajectory of digital adoption of workflows throughout the automotive sector over the past four years, the growth rate is in the triple digits.

That’s one of the highlights of the Q1 Auto Finance Digital Transformation Index based on analysis by Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions.

Wolters Kluwer reported the four-year trend tracking digital adoption continues to show significant overall growth of 104.2% dating back to the first quarter of 2021.

More recently, however, the upward trend isn’t quite as pronounced. Wolters Kluwer indicated the Q1 rate of adoption was up slightly at 1% compared to Q4 2024; and the adoption growth rate was also up a modest 2.2% compared with Q1 of 2024.

The index tracks the rate at which auto dealers, service providers and lenders are seeing growth in the evolution from paper-based finance back-office processes to digital.

“The continued embrace of digital documentation processes over the last four years highlights the ongoing dedication of auto lenders and their dealer partners to modernize operations,” said Matt Babcock, digital lending product strategy for Wolters Kluwer.

“Despite the modest growth of digital adoption in the first quarter, businesses continue to recognize the importance of making digital investments, and we expect that lenders, dealers and their partners will continue to migrate toward digital workflows for their operations,” Babcock continued in a news release.

The Wolters Kluwer Q1 Index also showed increased digital adoption rates for the securitized markets, with a 13% rise compared with Q4 of 2024.

Although the data reflected a 50% decrease of digital adoption comparing Q1 2025 with Q1 2024, the four-year trend remains up at 24%, according to Wolters Kluwer.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer, visit www.wolterskluwer.com.