Most big dealership groups lift F&I revenue: Some small players reap hefty per-unit grosses

Finance and insurance revenue is rising at an overwhelming majority of the nation's largest dealership groups.

And while the public groups are the big boys in new-unit retail sales, they generally rank in the middle third of large dealership groups in F&I revenue per vehicle retailed. Some much smaller players get substantially more F&I revenue per vehicle.

Those are some of the insights from data on large dealership groups' F&I revenue, as compiled by the Automotive News Data Center.

Of the 125 largest dealership groups based in the United States, as ranked by new-unit retail sales, 83 increased their average F&I revenue per new or used vehicle retailed in 2013 from 2012, the data showed.

Just 35 of the 125 had a drop in F&I revenue per vehicle retailed. Of those, only eight had a double-digit drop. For seven of the 125, data were insufficient to make a year-over-year comparison.

In contrast, 35 of the top 125 dealership groups posted a double-digit increase in average F&I revenue per vehicle retailed last year -- and seven posted increases of 25 percent or more.

'Increasingly important'

"Seeing where the front-end grosses aren't where they were, maintaining a strong back end is increasingly important," said Jamie Bishton, vice president of Noarus Auto Group...