Generating customer-specific vehicle proposals for potential vehicle customers

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer program products for generating customer-specific vehicle proposals based on ongoing vehicle finance pay-off information that may be received from a third party entity and stored in a large database. Embodiments of the invention herein disclosed provide for efficient identification of potential customers based on their current vehicle and the ongoing financial obligation related to the current vehicle. A replacement vehicle is identified and a vehicle proposal, such as a sales or lease proposal, is generated for one or more of the identified potential customers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for providing vehicle proposals, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a third-party entity, a vehicle finance listing of customers, wherein the listing includes, for each customer, identification of a first vehicle having ongoing vehicle financing with the third-party entity and first vehicle finance pay-off information;   identifying second vehicles to propose to one or more of the customers included in the vehicle finance listing, wherein the second vehicles are similar in make and model to the first vehicles;   determining, by a computing device processor, for each of the one or more customers, a customer-specific vehicle proposal for the identified second vehicles, wherein the customer-specific vehicle proposal is based at least in part on an estimated market value of the first vehicle;   automatically evaluating the customer-specific vehicle proposal to predict whether the proposal is likely to be desirable, without receiving a request from the customer, by comparing a current payment amount for the first vehicle from the ongoing vehicle financing with a potential payment amount for the second vehicle to determine a difference in payments; and   communicating, by a computing device, the customer-specific vehicle proposal to a dealer for presentation to the associated customer if the difference in payments is less than or equal to a preset threshold.   
     
     
         2 . A method of automatically generating leads for automotive sales and leases by data mining from large pre-existing computer databases, the method comprising:
 using a computer to automatically retrieve, from one or more electronic sources consisting of large pre-existing databases of sales and financing records, each of the following:
 information relating to a large group of potential customers; 
 information relating to large number of current vehicles of the potential customers in the large group of potential customers; and 
 information relating to a large set of current financial terms for the large number of current vehicles; 
   automatically determining a customized deal for each potential customer by performing the following steps for each potential customer in the large group:
 identifying a current vehicle of the potential customer from within the large number of current vehicles; 
 determining a trade-in value for the current vehicle; 
 identifying current financial terms for the current vehicle from within the large set of current financial terms; 
 automatically determining a payoff amount for the current vehicle from the current financial terms; 
 using stored associations between vehicle types to limit required calculations by, without receiving a request from the potential customer, automatically selecting a potential replacement vehicle that is predicted to be of interest to the potential customer, the automatic selection based on an association between vehicle types stored in the computer and the current vehicle of the potential customer; 
 retrieving potential financial terms available for the potential replacement vehicle; and 
 calculating a potential payment amount for the potential replacement vehicle, based on the potential financial terms, the trade-in value, and the payoff amount; 
   for each of the potential customers, automatically evaluating the customized deal to predict whether the deal is likely to be desirable, without receiving a request from the potential customer, by:
 retrieving a current payment amount for the current vehicle from the current financial terms; 
 automatically subtracting the current payment amount for the current vehicle from the potential payment amount for the potential replacement vehicle to determine a difference in payments; and 
 predicting, if the difference in payments is less than or equal to a preset threshold, that the deal will be desirable to the potential customer; and 
   automatically generating one or more electronic messages alerting the dealer to each potential customer for whom there is a deal that is predicted to be desirable.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein predicting that the deal will be desirable comprises determining that the difference in payments is less than or equal to a predetermined dollar amount or percentage of the current periodic payment. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the large pre-existing databases of sales and financing records comprise at least one of an online database of transactions, a database of vehicles sold or leased by the dealer, a database of sale or lease agreements for vehicles sold or leased by the dealer, a database of sold and leased vehicles maintained by a manufacturer of the current vehicle, and a database of sales and lease agreements maintained by a lender that financed the current vehicle. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more electronic messages are generated based on interactions between the potential customers and a dealer service department. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising displaying at least one of the electronic messages on a web page accessible by a dealer terminal.