Santander Consumer Finance has appointed The Warranty Group as its partner to supply Service Plans to more than 6,000 dealers for which it provides new and used car finance.
The move has been made to provide Santander’s dealers with the ability to offer customers an attractive servicing product at the point of sale – and to bring dealers a very worthwhile, additional revenue stream.
Training will be offered by The Warranty Group to all Santander dealers as part of the contract based on a product “champion” approach which has proven very successful with Service Plans during the recession.
Andy Green, marketing director at Santander Consumer Finance, said: “Service Plans are becoming an increasingly important part of the dealer point of sale product mix alongside warranty, GAP and RTI. This is a product that appeals to customers during the recession, allowing them to budget for servicing well into the future with a high degree of certainty.
“Having looked in detail at the various Service Plan offerings available across the market, we have chosen to work with The Warranty Group thanks to key factors such as strength of product, quality of training, commitment to dealer support and ease of administration.”
The Warranty Group’s Service Plan is a planned maintenance product that dealers can offer to customers at the point of sale, breaking down the cost of routine car servicing into monthly payments made by direct debit.
A quote for each customer can be generated in a couple of minutes by visiting The Warranty Group’s web site based on the length of time they intend to keep the vehicle, ranging from one to six years.
Each Service Plan is based on the manufacturers servicing data and can accommodate any model and manufacturer, with the dealer setting their own prices in areas such as labour rates and oil pricing.
Green explained: "For the customer, the Service Plan offers an easy way of budgeting for scheduled servicing costs that is tailored to their exact needs, which is especially attractive during the recession.
"For the dealer, the advantages are numerous. It minimises the chances of losing servicing and therefore other aftersales business to fast fits or independent garages, strengthening their link to the customer.”
Ian Simpson, sales and marketing director at The Warranty Group, added: “2009 is proving to be the year of the Service Plan. The number being sold has increased rapidly during the last 12 months and we have signed a number of major deals with dealer groups. We are very pleased to now be working with Santander on this sizeable new contract.”
The Warranty Group has 13 million live warranties in the UK and is a leading provider in the motor industry of warranty products including GAP insurance and extended service plans.