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  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
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  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

Wolters Kluwer Releases First Quarter Data for Its Auto Finance Digital Transformation Index

Ongoing four-year digital adoption rate continues to reflect widespread adoption of digital workflows throughout automotive sector

Adoption of digitized contracting and documentation workflows by auto retailers and their lending partners that foster back-office efficiencies saw an upward swing, according to analysis by Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions from its Q1 Auto Finance Digital Transformation Index. The four-year trend tracking digital adoption continues to show significant overall growth of 104.2% dating back to the first quarter of 2021. Propelled by strong enticements, high dealer inventories, and aggressive incentives, sales in the auto industry were up 4.5% for the first quarter of 2025 versus Q1 of 20241. The Q1 rate of adoption was up slightly at 1% compared to Q4 2024; and the adoption growth rate was also up a modest 2.2% compared with Q1 of 2024.

The Index tracks the rate at which auto dealers, service providers and lenders are seeing growth in the evolution from paper-based finance back-office processes to digital.

“The continued embrace of digital documentation processes over the last four years highlights the ongoing dedication of auto lenders and their dealer partners to modernize operations," said Matt Babcock, Digital Lending Product Strategy for Wolters Kluwer. "Despite the modest growth of digital adoption in the first quarter, businesses continue to recognize the importance of making digital investments, and we expect that lenders, dealers and their partners will continue to migrate toward digital workflows for their operations."

Quarterly Rise in Adoption Trends for Securitized Markets

The Wolters Kluwer Q1 Index also showed increased digital adoption rates for the securitized markets, with a 13% rise compared with Q4 of 2024. Although the data reflected a 50% decrease of digital adoption comparing Q1 2025 with Q1 2024, the four-year trend remains up at 24%.

The overall activity for auto ABS showed largely seasonal trends during the first quarter. According to the most recent data2, in February 2025, U.S. auto loan ABS demonstrated month-over-month improvements in losses, recoveries, and delinquencies. For the second month in a row, prime auto loan losses and 60-plus-day delinquencies declined and recoveries improved.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer, please visit: www.wolterskluwer.com.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information, software solutions and services for professionals in healthcare; tax and accounting; financial and corporate compliance; legal and regulatory; corporate performance and ESG. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2024 annual revenues of €5.9 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 21,600 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

1: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/first-quarter-2025-national-auto-sales-results-20255401.php

2: https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/research/articles/250402-u-s-auto-loan-abs-tracker-february-2025-performance-13463622

“The continued embrace of digital documentation processes over the last four years highlights the ongoing dedication of auto lenders and their dealer partners to modernize operations," says Matt Babcock, Digital Lending Product Strategy for Wolters Kluwer.

Contacts

Media Contacts

John Sternal

Merit Mile

954-592-1201

David Feider

Associate Director, External Communications

Financial & Corporate Compliance

Wolters Kluwer

Office +1 612-246-9454

david.feider@wolterskluwer.com

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