Upstart to Expand Vehicle Financing to Another 13 States

Upstart plans to expand its auto retail financing capability to another 13 states during the first quarter.

The lending marketplace aims to reach 90% of U.S. consumers by the end of the quarter, up from the 70% coverage achieved in the third quarter of 2023, Upstart said in a Wednesday (Jan. 31) press release.

The company’s vehicle financing will be extended to Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, per the release.

The decision to expand comes at a time when interest rates are at 20-year highs, making it challenging for consumers to find affordable financing options for buying a car, according to the release.

Upstart’s artificial intelligence-powered auto loans will enable dealers to approve more borrowers across the entire credit spectrum, the release said. Moreover, dealers can expect a back-end gross that is as much as 50% higher than the industry average.

In addition to expanding the availability of its vehicle financing, Upstart has also added several enhancements to its auto retail platform over the past year, per the release.

The platform’s enhancements include increased customer engagement through an improved user interface and a digital retail application that allows dealers to curate the online buyer journey, according to the release. Dealers can manage deals from any device in the showroom, resulting in a faster sales process and higher lead-to-sale conversion rates.

Upstart has also expanded its integrations with leading dealer management system (DMS) solutions, such as Tekion, CDK and Dealertrack, as well as Market Scan’s payments platform, the release said. These integrations provide dealers with certified inventory, rates and incentives data, enabling quicker and more accurate deals.

The company has also added unified digital desking and reporting that provides instant visibility into deals, both online and on the showroom floor, per the release.

Upstart CEO Dave Girouard said in August that the company expects that when the funding markets return to normal, becoming less cautious, the company’s continuing investment in AI will have it in the pole position.

“Regardless of the economy’s direction in the coming months, I’m confident that we’re building a better, stronger enterprise for the future,” Girouard said at the time.

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