January F&I Strength Offsets Front-End Pressure

January deal counts reset to a 13-month low, but strong F&I performance kept total gross per deal near last year’s level despite front-end pressure.

By Gregory Arroyo

January opened 2026 at almost exactly the same sales pace as a year earlier.

Deal counts fell 9.9% month over month to 100 deals per rooftop in January, nearly matching the 101 dealers averaged in January 2025.

What changed was the deal itself.

Front-end gross fell more than 31% from a year ago to $470 per deal, while F&I profit per vehicle retailed (PVR) rose 8.4% year over year to $1,964. Together, those shifts kept total gross per deal at $2,444 — only 2.2% below last year’s level.

This insight comes directly from StoneEagleDATA’s latest benchmark report, powered by transaction-level data representing over 50% of the automotive retail market. StoneEagleDATA delivers The Complete Picture of how sales conditions and F&I execution shape dealership profitability.

January’s Complete Picture

The broader context comes from how the deal evolved through 2025.

Front-end margins steadily compressed through the second half of the year, ultimately falling to $279 per deal in December — the lowest level since April 2020. January’s 68.5% rebound to $470 per deal suggests the sales side of the deal is stabilizing, though still well below the levels dealers started with last year.

What ultimately protected deal profitability was the F&I office.

The fourth quarter of 2025 marked the strongest stretch of F&I performance in the StoneEagleDATA dataset, highlighted by November’s $2,025 average for F&I profit per vehicle retailed (PVR) — the highest monthly level recorded since the dataset began.

January’s $1,964 average eased slightly from that late-year peak, slipping from $1,975 in December, but still sits near the upper end of the levels dealers produced throughout 2025.

Per-deal performance carried through to total F&I income. Dealers averaged $196,152 in total F&I income per rooftop in January. While down 10.5% from December’s $219,056 — largely reflecting the month-over-month drop in deal counts — the figure still finished 6.8% higher than the $183,615 recorded in January 2025 and marks the strongest January average in the StoneEagleDATA record.

January Performance Breakdown

• Deals per dealer: Fell from 111 in December to 100 in January, the lowest monthly average since January 2025, when dealers averaged 101 deals per rooftop.

• F&I PVR: Declined slightly from $1,975 in December to $1,964 in January, but remained up 8.40% year over year and near the elevated levels dealers sustained through the fourth quarter.

• Front-end gross per deal: Increased from $279 in December to $470 in January, though still down 31.40% compared with January 2025.

• Total gross per deal: Rose from $2,253 in December to $2,444 in January, finishing just 2.20% below the level recorded a year earlier.

• Products per deal: Held at 1.56 in January, up from 1.52 in January 2025 and consistent with the range dealers maintained throughout 2025.

• Total F&I income per dealer: Declined from $219,056 in December to $196,152 in January as deal counts reset, but remained up 6.80% compared with January 2025, thanks to stronger per-deal F&I performance.

F&I Product Penetration Highlights

• Vehicle Service Contracts (VSC): Increased from 44% in December to 45% in January, up one point year over year — returning to the upper half of the penetration range seen during 2025.

• Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP): Rose from 38% in December to 40% in January, up three points year over year — matching the highest penetration level reached during 2025.

• Paint & Fabric Protection: Declined from 20% in December to 19% in January, flat year over year, and the lowest penetration level seen during 2025.

• Prepaid Maintenance (PPM): Fell from 17% in December to 16% in January, up one point year over year after reaching late-year highs in 2025.

• Tire & Wheel: Held at 10%, flat year over year and consistent with penetration levels seen throughout 2025.

StoneEagleDATA: Powering Your Industry

StoneEagleDATA’s latest F&I benchmark report, powered by transaction-level data from over 50% of the automotive retail market, delivers a complete view of today’s automotive retail landscape:

• Comprehensive Benchmarking: Capturing every transaction and every product from more than half the retail market.

• Actionable Insights: Reveal trends, track performance, and uncover growth opportunities in real time.

• Trusted Intelligence: Built on secure, dealer-level data to support forecasting, analytics, and smarter decision-making across the F&I industry.

StoneEagleDATA powers the intelligence behind modern automotive retail. Complete our form to explore how trusted, transaction-level data can strengthen your strategy and solutions.