Pay freeze for F&I dealership staff

Motor retail sector staff are feeling
the squeeze on car sales right where it hurts most – in their pay
packets. And staff responsible for sales of finance and insurance
(F&I), who have traditionally enjoyed a pay premium over basic
sales executives, have not been excluded from the freeze.

According to a salary survey conducted by Trend Tracker, the
basic pay of sales executives – including F&I staff – fell by
0.8 per cent between 2007 and 2008, compared with a weighted motor
retail sector increase of 1.4 per cent, and an all-industries
increase of 3.3 per cent. Total pay, meanwhile, grew by just 0.8
per cent for sales executives.

Chris Oakham, director of Trend Tracker said that between 60 to
70 per cent of respondents to the survey employed F&I managers,
in a ratio of one F&I manager to every five sales executives.
“F&I managers tend to earn much higher basic pay than sales
execs – 64 per cent more – and their total pay is 37 per cent
higher,” he said.

Jo Tacon