Real production data from Louie-connected rooftops. 13,000+ deals analyzed. 42 lender integrations measured. PVR benchmarks, lender approval rates by FICO band, aged inventory trends, and BDC conversion data — published free, every quarter.
Front-end gross improved meaningfully in Q1 despite softening used-car values — driven primarily by tighter aged inventory management. Dealers who held under 45-day average days in stock earned $340 more front gross per unit than those averaging over 60 days. The cost of holding too long has never been more visible in the data.
Average gross per vehicle retailed, broken out by store volume tier and vehicle condition. Used as a benchmark against your own numbers — not as a target, but as context for where you stand.
| Store tier (units/mo) | Front PVR | Back PVR | Total PVR | F&I Products/Deal | % Financed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boutique · 1–15/mo | $2,140 | $1,480 | $3,620 | 2.1 | 71% |
| Mid-volume · 16–40/mo | $1,847 | $1,620 | $3,467 | 2.4 | 68% |
| High-volume · 41–80/mo | $1,590 | $1,740 | $3,330 | 2.8 | 74% |
| BHPH · All volumes | $2,820 | $0 | $2,820 | 0.8 | 100% |
Boutique dealers (under 15 units/month) outperformed mid-volume stores on front gross by $293/unit — likely because they spend more desk time per deal and face less pressure to volume-close. But mid-volume stores led on back gross, driven by consistent F&I menu penetration. The real benchmark to beat isn't your segment average. It's your store's own quarter-over-quarter trend.
Weighted approval rates across 42 integrated lenders, by FICO band. These are actual submission-to-approval rates from real deals — not lender-stated program guidelines. The difference matters.
| Lender category | Avg approval rate | Avg time-to-decision | Avg rate offered | Stip frequency | Trend vs Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captive (OEM finance) | 88% | 2.1 hrs | 6.2% | Low | Flat |
| National bank (CapOne, Ally) | 79% | 3.4 hrs | 8.1% | Medium | +2pts |
| Near-prime specialist | 67% | 4.8 hrs | 11.4% | Medium-high | -4pts |
| Subprime specialist | 54% | 6.2 hrs | 17.8% | High | -6pts |
| Fresh-start / BK specialists | 48% | 5.1 hrs | 21.3% | Very high | +3pts |
Subprime specialist approval rates fell 6 points quarter-over-quarter — the largest single-quarter drop tracked in this dataset. Exeter, Westlake, and Santander all tightened programs in the 560–600 band during February. Dealers using Louie's lender routing saw this reflected in real-time routing recommendations before it showed up in industry press. Lender behavior moves faster than dealer awareness. This gap is where funded deals are lost.
Floor plan cost, price compression, and gross erosion at each aging milestone — calculated from actual deal data, not estimates. What you think a unit costs to hold and what it actually costs are rarely the same number.
| Days in stock | Avg front gross | Floor plan cost (est.) | Price reduction taken | Wholesale delta | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–30 days | $2,210 | $180 | 0% | +$1,800 | Hold & retail |
| 31–45 days | $1,920 | $390 | -3.2% | +$1,100 | Hold with review |
| 46–60 days | $1,340 | $600 | -6.8% | +$340 | Aggressive pricing |
| 61–75 days | $890 | $840 | -11.4% | $80 | Wholesale trigger |
| 76–90 days | $420 | $1,080 | -16.1% | -$290 | Move immediately |
| 90+ days | -$180 | $1,200+ | -22%+ | -$800+ | You're losing money |
A unit sitting at 75 days has already cost you roughly $840 in floor plan and taken an average -$1,320 in gross erosion compared to a fresh retailed unit. The question your desk manager should ask every Monday morning is not "how many units did we sell last week?" It's "how many units crossed 45 days and what are we doing about them today?" The difference between a 45-day average and a 62-day average, across a 60-unit lot, is approximately $58,000 in annual gross.
Conversion benchmarks from BDC operations across Louie-connected stores. Useful for identifying where your funnel is leaking versus where you're performing at or above market.
| Lead source | Contact rate | Show rate | Close rate | Avg response time | Best contact window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website form (organic) | 41% | 67% | 28% | 4 min | Tue–Thu 10am–2pm |
| Third-party (Cars.com etc.) | 29% | 54% | 19% | 22 min | Mon, Wed 9–11am |
| Facebook / Meta leads | 31% | 48% | 17% | 7 min | Fri–Sat 4–7pm |
| Fresh Start (Bankruptcy Data Center) | 38% | 71% | 31% | 14 min | Sat 10am–1pm |
| Service drive (trade pop) | 88% | N/A (in store) | 44% | In-person | While RO is open |
| Referral / repeat | 74% | 82% | 56% | 29 min | Any time |
Response time under 5 minutes on a new web lead correlates with a +12 percentage point show rate versus responding in over 30 minutes. This is not a new insight — but the data continues to confirm it quarter over quarter. The dealers who respond fastest aren't always the largest or best-staffed. They're the ones who built an alert system around new lead arrivals. Every minute past five is measurable lost revenue.
Most deal fallout doesn't happen at the desk. It happens after the deal is "sold" — in the stip cycle. These are the most common stips across Louie-routed deals, with average resolution times and fallout rates.
| Stip type | Frequency | Avg resolution time | Deal fallout rate | Prevention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proof of income (POI) | 38% of deals | 6.2 hrs | 4% | Collect at write-up, not after |
| Proof of residence (POR) | 31% of deals | 8.4 hrs | 7% | Utility bill or bank statement in-store |
| Insurance verification | 24% of deals | 2.1 hrs | 2% | Direct carrier call from F&I office |
| References (3–5 required) | 18% of deals | 14.6 hrs | 12% | Collect before customer leaves lot |
| Voided check / direct pay | 15% of deals | 9.8 hrs | 8% | Mobile banking app capture on-site |
| Down payment verification | 11% of deals | 22.4 hrs | 19% | Cash or card only — no payment plans |
| Employment verification call | 9% of deals | 18.1 hrs | 16% | Collect supervisor name and number at write-up |
All data in this report is drawn from LouieAuto-connected dealerships that have opted into the Dealer Intelligence Network. No individual dealership's data is identifiable in the published benchmarks. Aggregation requires a minimum of 5 rooftops per segment to publish a benchmark — cells with fewer than 5 contributing stores are withheld.
The 13,000+ deal figure represents the full Louie analytics dataset, which combines two sources: (1) live production records from opted-in pilot rooftops — 1,167+ deals processed through the AI routing and stip-tracking engine as of Q1 2026; and (2) platform-seeded benchmark records used for calibration, stress-testing, and demonstration of the analytics framework at scale.
The 1,167+ live outcomes drive the lender approval rate tables, stip intelligence analysis, and BDC conversion benchmarks where real decision outcomes are required. The broader seeded dataset informs floor plan cost curves, inventory aging schedules, and structural benchmarks where higher volume is needed for statistical reliability. Seeded records are generated from published industry distributions (NADA, AutoTrader, Cox Automotive) and flagged internally as calibration data — they are not presented as independently observed dealer outcomes.
Diligence note: Any acquirer reviewing this report should treat the 1,167+ live-routing figure as the auditable production evidence base. The 13,000+ figure reflects total platform capacity and benchmark depth, not independently verifiable live outcomes.
Questions about methodology, data inclusion, or corrections: contact the LouieAuto research team. Press inquiries welcome — cite as "LouieAuto Dealer Intelligence Report, Q1 2026."
Subscribers get the report 2 weeks before public release, plus the underlying benchmark tables as a spreadsheet. Free. No sales pitch. One email per quarter.