Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Kia have had their finance offers ranked as the best by their respective networks, according to the latest results from the National Franchised Dealer Association (NFDA) Winter Dealer Attitude Survey.

Dealers rated their franchises out of 10 on how satisfied they were with the competitiveness of their manufacturer’s finance programme. The average was 6.6, unchanged from the previous survey.

Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Kia scored 9.0, 8.6 and 8.4 respectively.

Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Dacia were ranked at the bottom of the table with scores of 4.3, 4.7 and 5.0 respectively.

Toyota was up from 8.7 last year and its network has been supported on new car sales in Q1 with 0% deals on most of its model range. Nearly all models are priced below £300 a month (only the Prius Plug-In Business Edition Plus tops that at £349).

The Aygo and Yaris are both under £200 a month, which could be helping Toyota dealers as customers move away from diesel. The 0% offer on the Yaris also helped it secure a place in the top 10 best sellers at the start of the year at 2,821 units.

Mercedes-Benz has no 0% offers in Q1, but nor does Audi or BMW (apart from a niche model each).

The A-Class and C-Class were both in the top 10 best-sellers so far in 2019, both are available at £269 and £319 respectively, and both are below the average payment across all brands of £311.40.

Kia’s new car line-up has plug-in options for customers seeking to switch to alternative fuels for the first time. There is real breadth to Kia’s range now, which  means dealers can target volume with models such as the Picanto at £170.39 a month and Sportage at £319. There are also bigger profit opportunities available with models such as the Optima, Stinger, Niro PHEV and Sorento.

Each of the three manufacturers in the bottom of the NFDA rankings for finance offers saw drops in registrations over 2018.

However, Dacia and Jeep still outperformed the new car market as a whole last year and there were certainly other manufacturers that faced a more difficult year in terms of volume losses.

Fiat, Jeep and Alfa Romeo were the worst performing franchises overall for the latest NFDA survey, so there may be a correlation for dealers rating the brands poorly across all categories.

Dacia sticks out a little as it was mid-table for satisfaction, but has one of the most affordable models ranges in the UK.

Dacia’s low ranking for finance may be linked with dealers’ dissatisfaction with new car targets overall. Dacia scored 3.1 out of 10 for how realistic its target aspirations are and retail offers are intrinsically linked to helping dealers hit them. 

 

Top three brands in the NFDA Winter 2018/19 Dealer Attitude Survey

Model Finance type Deposit Term Monthly payment Final payment APR Offer ends
Toyota
Aygo x-trend 1.0 VVT-i Manual PCP £2,901 42 £129 £4,770 0% 31/03/2019
Yaris Icon Tech Petrol 1.0 VVT-i Manual PCP £2,771 42 £169 £5,130 0.00% 31/03/2019
Yaris Icon Tech Hybrid Petrol 1.5 VVT-i Auto PCP £3,896 42 £189 £7,110 0.00% 31/03/2019
Corolla Hybrid Design 1.8 CVT PCP £4,964 42 £229 £9,967.50 0.00% 31/03/2019
C-HR Design 5 dr Coupé FWD 1.2 VVT-i Manual PCP £5,756 24 £249 £13,477.50 0.00% 31/03/2019
C-HR Design 5 dr Coupé FWD Hybrid 1.8 VVT-i Auto PCP £6,546 24 £249 £15,187.50 0.00% 31/03/2019
RAV4 Hybrid Design 2.5 FWD Automatic PCP £7,588 24 £279 £17,730 0.00% 31/03/2019
GT86 Club Series 'Blue Edition' 2 dr Coupé Petrol 2.0 Boxer D-4S Manual PCP £8,853 42 £269 £11,790 4.90% 31/03/2019
Prius Business Edition Plus 5 dr 1.8 VVT-i Auto PCP £5,664 42 £299 £12,802.50 4.90% 31/03/2019
Prius Plug-In Business Edition Plus 5 dr 1.8 VVT-i Auto PCP £8,009 42 £349 £13,072.50 4.90% 31/03/2019
Mercedes-Benz
A-Class A180 d SE PCP £4,440.73 48 £269 £10,225 5.70% 31/03/2019
GLA 200 AMG Line PCP £5,579.85 48 £319 £12,775 5.70% 31/03/2019
C-Class C 200 d SE PCP £6,337.44 48 £319 £10,675 5.70% 31/03/2019
C-Class Estate 220 d AMG Line PCP £6,589.27 48 £399 £14,150 6% 31/03/2019
GLC 220 d 4MATIC AMG Line PCP £7,879.35 48 £415 £16,350 5.70% 31/03/2019
E-Class 220 d AMG Line PCP £7,190.01 48 £369 £15,175 5.70% 31/03/2019
B-Class B 180 SE PCP £4,006.36 48 £269 £6,450 6.30% 31/03/2019
New B-Class 180 Sport PCP £4,877.76 48 £339 £10,600 6.30% 31/03/2019
CLA 180 AMG Line Edition PCP £4,294.16 48 £309 £9,775 5.70% 31/03/2019
GLC Coupé 250 4MATIC AMG Line PCP £8,460.18 48 £409 £19,275 5.60% 31/03/2019
GLS 350 d 4MATIC AMG Line PCP £9,952.67 48 £795 £28,650 5.60% 31/03/2019
GLE 350 d 4MATIC AMG Line PCP £9,852.61 48 £735 £27,425 6.30% 31/03/2019
SLC 200 AMG Line PCP £7,428.18 48 £369 £12,150 6% 31/03/2019
V 220 d Sport PCP £9,999 48 £499 £20,225 6% 31/03/2019
Kia
Picanto 2 1.25 manual PCP £1,157.50 36 £170.39 £4,529.25 6% 31/03/2019
Rio 2 1.0 T-GDI manual ISG PCP £1,524 36 £230.30 £5,211.63 5.90% 31/03/2019
Soul 2 1.6 CRDi manual PCP £1,895.50 36 £308.45 £6,422.63 6% 31/03/2019
Venga 2 1.6 petrol automatic PCP £1,594.50 36 £297.07 £5427.88 5.90% 31/03/2019
Ceed 3 1.0 T-GDI ISG PCP £2,070.50 36 £270.53 £8,532.38 2.90% 31/03/2019
Ceed Sportswagon 3 1.6 CRDi ISG PCP £2,295.50 36 £323.22 £8,761.13 2.90% 31/03/2019
Niro Self Charging Hybrid 2 1.6 GDi 1.56kWh lithium-ion
140PS 6-speed auto DCT PCP £2,249 36 £308.93 £10,797 5.90% 31/03/2019
Niro PHEV 1.6 GDi 8.9kwh lithium-ion 140PS 6-speed auto DCT PCP £2,984.50 36 £472.36 £12,261 5.90% 31/03/2019
Stinger GT-Line 2.0 T0GDI PCP £2,999.50 36 £482.94 £13,198.88 5.90% 31/03/2019
Carens 2 1.7 CRDi ISG manual PCP £2,140.50 36 £353.08 £7,893.13 5.90% 31/03/2019
Sorento KX-2 2.2 CRDi 6-speed manual ISG PCP £3,362.50 36 £496.31 £13,587.75 5.90% 31/03/2019
Sportage 2 1.6 T-GDi ISG PCP £2,439.50 36 £319.95 £11,391.75 2.90% 31/03/2019
Stonic 2 1.0 T-GDi manual PCP £1,720 36 £272.79 £7,731.75 5.90% 31/03/2019
Optima Sportswagon 2 1.6 CRDi ISG PCP £2,310 36 £328.32 £8,898.38 6% 31/03/2019
Optima 2 1.6 CRDi ISG PCP £2,226 36 £322.84 £8,212.13 5.90% 31/03/2019

 

 

Bottom three brands rated in the NFDA Winter 2018/19 Dealer Attitude

 

Model Finance type Deposit Term Monthly payment Final payment APR Offer ends
Jeep
Renegade Sport 1.0 GSE T3 120PS Manual PCP £5,897 36 £169 £6,719 0% 31/03/2019
Compass Longitude 1.4 MultiAir II 140PS Manual PCP £8,425 36 £169 £10,906 0.00% 31/03/2019
Wrangler Sahara 2.2 MultiJet II 200PS 4x4 Automatic PCP £12,365 36 £499 £17,331 6% 31/03/2019
Alfa Romeo
MiTo 1.4 TB MultiAir 170PS Veloce PCP £5,341.00 36 £226 £6,408.00 0.00% 31/03/2019
Giulietta 1.4 TB 120PS Giulietta PCP £2,500 48 £205 £6,056 4% 31/03.2019
Giulia Saloon 2.0 TB 200 Super 4dr Auto PCP £9,941 36 £299 £12485 0.00% 31/03/2019
Stelvio Diesel Estate 2.2 D 190 Super 5dr Auto RWD PCP £7,495.00 48 £375 £15,882.00 3.90% 31/03/2019
4C Spider 1750cc TBi 240PS TCT PCP £9,939 48 £499 £24,953 4.90% 31/03/2019
Dacia
Sandero Access Sce 75 PCP £1,161 49 £79 £2,974 6.90% 01/04/2019
Sandero Stepway Essential TCe 90 PCP £2,286 49 £109 £3,781 7% 01/04/2019
Duster Access SCe 115 4x2 PCP £1,446 49 £109 £5,213 6.90% 01/04/2019
Logan MCV Access SCe 75 PCP £1,414 49 £109 £2,957 6.90% 01/04/2019
Logan MCV Stepway Comfort TCe 90 PCP £2,129 49 £169 £3,960 6.90% 01/04/2019