DETROIT — The F&I office should be busy this year based
on the results of an Ally Financial survey conducted at the recent National
Automobile Dealers Association Convention & Expo.

More than 70 percent of participating dealers expect sales
of F&I products such as vehicle service contracts to increase this year.

Ally's survey also found dealers remain optimistic about a
continued increase in auto sales in 2013 with nearly 60 percent surveyed
expecting their sales to grow by more than 10 percent this year.

Furthermore, the used-vehicle department will be the most
profitable within the dealership this year, according to 47 percent of dealers
surveyed.   

More than 54 percent of dealers surveyed expect consumer
confidence to be the key factor in sustaining sales momentum in 2013. The age
of vehicles on the road, incentives and the availability of new vehicle
inventory will also support sales growth, dealers said. 

About half of the dealers surveyed indicate that customer credit
profiles are improving.

"We expect 2013 to be a strong year for the auto industry as
the economy and consumer credit profiles steadily improve and as new models
attract customers to showrooms," said Tim Russi, president of auto finance
for Ally Financial.

"We met with many dealers at NADA who reinforced our
position and share our optimism and passion to make it happen," Russi added.

Ally surveyed more than 100 dealers who attended the past
weekend's NADA Convention & Expo in Orlando, Fla.

Two of the large publicly traded dealer groups recently
discussed how critical F&I performance would be to this year's success. SubPrime
Auto Finance News published management objectives for AutoNation and Penske
Automotive Group.

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