There is a strong relationship between an exceptional vehicleloan or lease servicing experience and customer intent to use thesame finance provider again.

That's according to the J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 Consumer Financing Satisfaction Study released Thursday.

Based on a 1,000 point scale, the study measured customersatisfaction in four key factors of the new vehicle financingexperience: billing and payment, interest rate/monthly payment,website; and phone contact. The study was conducted across fourconsumer vehicle financing segments: mass market loan, mass marketlease, luxury loan and luxury lease.

According to J.D. Power and Associates, in the mass market loansegment, Volkswagen Credit (865) ranked highest, performingparticularly well in billing and payment as well as interestrate/monthly payment, followed by Mazda Capital Services (844) andHonda Financial Services (843).

Ford Credit (827) ranked highest in the mass market leasesegment followed by Volkswagen Credit (816) and Honda FinancialServices (802).

In the luxury loan segment, Mercedes-Benz Financial Servicestook the top spot (853) performing particularly well in phonecontact, followed closely by Acura Financial Services with a scoreof 852. BMW Financial Services ranks third with a score of 848.

Lincoln Automotive Financial Services ranks highest in theluxury lease segment with a score of 826 and performs particularlywell in all factors, the J.D. Power study found. Lexus FinancialServices (808) and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (806) alsogarnered high rankings.

“A superior servicing experience translates into greater lenderconsideration for future business,” said Lisa Stimac, accountdirector automotive finance at J.D. Power and Associates. “While asimilar relationship does not exist with respect to considering thesame dealership, finance providers may still influence dealerconsideration by ensuring efficient approval processes andknowledgeable staff.”

Many of the best practices in auto finance servicing are relatedto problem prevention, according to the study. These practicesinclude providing service alerts, reminding customers of a paymentor confirming when a payment has been made, providing accurate andinformative billing information and offering alternative,easy-to-use methods for reviewing account information.

“Most consumers just want the vehicle-buying process to besimple,” Stimac said. “Financing is a tough area to simplify, butby providing seamless, fast service throughout the loan or leaseperiod, financing providers increase their chances of beingre-selected and building brand loyalty.”

The study also found that there is a minimal relationship withthe servicing experience and customer intent to use the samedealership for a future vehicle purchase or lease, whereas thein-dealership experience significantly impacts likelihood to returnto the same dealer.

J.D. Power and Associates said the study was based on responsesfrom 11,259 new vehicle purchasers or lessees who completed avehicle loan or lease transaction between June 2011 and May 2012.The study was fielded between August and October 2012.