Background

• Finance managers interact with customers to determine credit worthiness and to discuss available financing options. They also prepare any delivery documentation, including loan contracts, paperwork for the Department of Motor Vehicles and any necessary legal forms. They can offer protection products such as credit insurance, extended warranties and anti-theft devices. For customers who have credit problems, a special finance manager can creatively structure loans to meet customers’ current needs and income. In either case, good customer service skills are essential, since many customers may return to the same dealer for servicing and future purchases.
  
  

Education

• A bachelor’s degree in finance is the typical minimum requirement, with backgrounds in business, math, marketing and computers. Many employers also require at least two years of car sales experience and at least one year in dealership management. This practical experience provides skills for maintaining profitability while minimizing costs, and introduces managers to federal, state and local laws affecting car sales and financing. With enough experience and education, finance managers can become finance directors or company comptrollers.
  
  

Salaries

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of May 2010, finance managers at car dealerships earned a mean $50.34 per hour, or $104,700 per year. This was lower than the average for all management occupations in the industry, which was $58.48 per hour, or $121,630 per year. Higher-paying positions included chief executives, who made a mean $93.27 per hour, or $194,000 per year, and general managers with mean wages of $63.68 per hour, or $132,460 per year. Lower-paying positions included purchasing managers at a mean $42.36 per hour, or $88,100 per year, and human resource managers at $41.93 per hour, or $87,220 per year.
  
  

Comparisons

• Finance managers at a car dealership made less than the average for all finance managers in all industries. This mean ran $56.24 per hour, or $116,970 per year. Most such managers work in banks and other depository institutions, where mean wages are $46.19 per hour, or $96,070, which is lower than the average for automobile sales. However, the highest pay was in financial investment activities that did not include securities or commodities brokers. Mean pay here soared to $81.08 per hour, or $168,640 per year.