The Glasgow-based company says that few of these businesses record sufficient information about their motor finance customers to gain a usefully detailed appreciation of who is buying which products and why.

Paul Burgess, CEO, said: “Dealers and introducers have what might be described as a practical working knowledge of their motor finance products, in that they have sufficient understanding to look at a customer’s needs and suggest appropriate products. This is an important and appropriate approach for them but it does have limitations.

“Where they tend to fall down is in developing a more analytical approach, of gaining insight into why certain customers are opting for certain products and even identifying areas where car buyer needs are not being met by current dealer propositions.

“This means that they never really have sufficient information to look at patterns within their motor finance sales and identify opportunities for new approaches, new products and new marketing initiatives. It’s something of an industry-wide weak spot.”

Paul said that the onus was on motor finance providers to start to compile useful data and share it with their introducers in order to drive progress.

“The fact is that most dealers simply do not have the tools or technology available to access this information, so it is up to motor finance providers to make that change, and we’ve been looking at ways in which we can seize the initiative.

“We work with several dealers who have developed successful new marketing initiatives in recent years that include innovative approaches to motor finance as a key element and we believe that there are many more potential opportunities of this kind.”

Paul said that Startline was working on new insight tools that were designed to help drive a closer partnership approach to its relationships with its dealers and introducers.

“If we can sit down with our partners and look in depth at what is happening with their motor finance with the right information, there are many new avenues that could be explored. It’s about building a more detailed, mutual understanding of our market.

“We hope to be able to make an announcement soon about our plans in this area.”