A story carried on multiple automotive news sites this week reported that Nissan’s in-house financing arm had launched a program intended to steer customers toward longer loan terms. But Nissan counters that the program’s intent is to promote low-interest rate loans and not longer terms.
According to Nissan, its finance arm “recently communicated a dealer program aimed at supporting our dealers and customers. It is designed to drive participation in promotional rate contracts, which benefit a customer with lower rates, payment, and interest. NMAC is not steering customers to longer-term contracts.
“Nissan Motor Acceptance Company (NMAC), in conjunction with Nissan retailers, provides a variety of financing options to best suit our customers’ needs. Lenders offer dealer compensation as standard practice across the industry.
The program changes the way Nissan Motor Acceptance Company (NMAC) compensates dealers when customers arrange financing through NMAC. Rather than paying dealerships a flat fee when a new loan originates, NMAC now plans to pay dealerships 1 percent of the amount a customer finances, when that customer accepts certain promotional rates.
Nissan explicitly denied that NMAC pays additional bonuses for loan terms of 84 months.
Buying a car involves more than one negotiation. The first is the price of the vehicle and the second may involve financing. That is unless you are in the relatively rare position of paying in cash.
When shopping for a new or used vehicle, smart shoppers find and qualify for financing before they visit a dealership. This gives buyers options and leverage in negotiating terms offered by the dealer’s in-house financing arm.
