NextGear Capital

Floor plan financing for independent dealers and auction inventory

Overview

NextGear Capital provides inventory financing (floor plan) to independent and franchise dealers, especially around auction acquisition and in-line floor needs.

Notes

NextGear Capital is a lender to the retail dealer for the vehicle as inventory item, not the end buyer's loan. The brand is the commercial credit line that lets a dealer buy and hold used (and in some cases new) stock purchased from Manheim, OVE, or other sources.

Expanded Editorial

Company Profile

Founded in 2013 and headquartered at 11799 North College Avenue in Carmel, Indiana, NextGear Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Automotive — the same parent organization behind Manheim, Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, vAuto, Dealertrack, and a dozen other automotive technology and services brands. Over the past decade, NextGear Capital has worked with more than 100,000 dealers and currently serves over 17,000 active dealership clients. The company has originated over $17 billion in loans and describes itself as the nation's largest floor plan provider.

The core value proposition is straightforward but critical to the independent dealer segment: NextGear Capital provides the commercial credit lines that allow dealers to purchase and hold vehicle inventory — both used and, in some cases, new — sourced from auction lanes, online auction platforms like OVE (Open Vehicle Exchange), trade-ins, off-street purchases, and even classifieds like eBay and Craigslist. This is not consumer auto financing; it is business-to-business inventory lending, often called "floor planning" because the financed vehicles sit on the dealer's lot or floor awaiting retail sale.

NextGear Capital operates under Cox Automotive's broader umbrella, which gives its dealer clients access to a uniquely integrated ecosystem of tools and data. A dealer financing inventory through NextGear Capital can simultaneously use Manheim for wholesale acquisition, Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book for pricing and valuation, vAuto for inventory management and lot optimization, Dealertrack for digital retailing and compliance, and VinSolutions for customer relationship management. This interconnected suite of products means that a dealer's financing, inventory data, appraisal information, and retail listings can all work together rather than existing in separate silos. It is a structural advantage that few standalone floor plan lenders can match.

What Is Floor Planning?

Floor planning is a specialized form of commercial asset-based lending unique to the automotive industry. When a dealer purchases a vehicle for resale, a floor plan lender advances the purchase price — typically 80-100% of the cost — and the vehicle itself serves as collateral. The dealer then repays the advance (plus fees and interest) when the vehicle sells, usually within a 30- to 90-day term.

The automotive industry is unusual in that commercial inventory loans of this type are relatively abundant and accessible compared to other retail sectors. As NextGear Capital's own "Floor Planning 101" educational content explains, credit history matters but is not always a deal-breaker — even dealers with past credit issues can qualify, though at reduced amounts or adjusted pricing. Over time, consistent performance and adherence to terms can improve a dealer's standing and credit ceiling.

How It Works at the Auction

The practical mechanics of floor plan financing at auction are designed for speed. On auction day, after checking in, the dealer visits the floor plan lender's desk at the auction to verify available credit. After bidding and winning vehicles, the dealer brings their blocked tickets to auction checkout and indicates which purchased units they want to floor plan. The floor plan company handles the payment to the auction, the title transfer, and all the back-end operations. The dealer walks away with the inventory and only has to worry about selling it.

This workflow is why NextGear Capital highlights that its floor plans are accepted at more than 1,000 in-lane and online auctions. The breadth of auction acceptance is a competitive moat — a dealer who uses NextGear Capital can buy at essentially any major auction in the country without switching lenders.

Products and Programs

NextGear Capital offers a layered product suite designed to meet dealers at different stages of growth and with different cash flow preferences:

Standard Pricing. The foundational floor plan product. Terms are customized to each dealership's unique needs, goals, and purchasing preferences. The dealer gets a committed line of credit, advances against each vehicle purchased, and a fee structure based on the advance amount and time held.

Flex Pricing. This is NextGear Capital's flagship differentiated offering. Flex Pricing allows dealers to defer interest payments, advance-related fees, and principal paydowns until each vehicle becomes due for full payoff or an extension is granted. In effect, the dealer keeps more cash in-hand throughout the holding period and can redirect working capital toward sourcing additional inventory. It is available for inventory from any source — auctions, trade-ins, and off-street purchases — and, as of recent product expansions, is also available for heavy truck, commercial, and salvage inventory.

First Gear. Aimed at new dealerships that have been in business for 12 months or less. First Gear provides an introductory line of credit with reduced paperwork requirements — specifically, without the standard amount of documentation or bank statements typically required at application. This is a deliberate wedge into a segment that traditional lenders often ignore because young dealerships lack the financial history that commercial underwriting usually demands.

Tiered Pricing. Instead of a flat fee structure, Tiered Pricing bases floor plan fees on the vehicle purchase price. This makes the fee schedule more granular and, for many inventory price points, more cost-effective than a one-size-fits-all promotion-based model. Dealers effectively pay less as a percentage on lower-priced units and more on premium units, which can improve per-vehicle margins.

Lienholder Loan Payoff (LLP) Program. Consumer trade-ins with outstanding loans are common at independent dealerships, but managing the payoff process is administratively burdensome and can tie up cash. The LLP Program lets NextGear Capital handle every step of the consumer loan payoff process on the dealer's behalf. Dealers can also capture positive equity in trade-ins — the program pays for itself when the trade-in has equity above the outstanding lien.

Additional Services

Mobile App. NextGear Capital offers a mobile application available on iOS and Android that gives dealers a complete floor planning toolset on the go. Key features include the ability to complete self-audits entirely within the app — a significant operational efficiency since physical audits have traditionally required a lender representative to visit the lot. The self-audit feature lets dealers photograph and document inventory at their own pace, on their own schedule, reducing disruption to daily operations.

Account Portal & Performance Summary. Recent enhancements to the web-based account portal include an Account Performance Summary — a monthly self-service report that gives dealers visibility into key metrics about their floor plan usage, payoff patterns, credit utilization, and portfolio health.

Title Management. NextGear Capital provides title services and records management as part of its account portal, and has rolled out new features giving dealers more control and transparency over title status throughout the vehicle lifecycle.

Collateral Protection. As a lender holding vehicles as collateral, NextGear Capital also offers optional collateral protection products that safeguard the financed inventory against loss or damage.

Market Position and Scale

NextGear Capital's scale in the independent dealer floor planning market is significant. The $17+ billion in loans provided and 1,000+ auction locations that accept its credit lines create a powerful network effect: the more dealers use NextGear Capital, the more auctions integrate with it, and the more valuable the proposition becomes for every new dealer who joins.

The company's positioning inside the Cox Automotive ecosystem amplifies this advantage. A dealer using NextGear Capital can also use Manheim for auction acquisition, Autotrader and KBB for vehicle valuation and retail listings, vAuto for inventory management and pricing optimization, Dealertrack for digital retailing and F&I, and VinSolutions for CRM. The data and workflow integrations between these brands create switching costs that are hard for standalone floor plan lenders to replicate.

Mission and Culture

NextGear Capital frames its mission around three principles: Be Tailored, Be Responsive, and Be Available.

• Be Tailored means recognizing that no two dealerships operate the same way and offering a variety of financial products and services to match different business models.
• Be Responsive means adapting services as a dealer's business grows and needs evolve — credit lines can increase, fee structures can shift, and new products can be layered in.
• Be Available means coverage: floor plans accepted at over 1,000 in-lane and online auctions, and the ability to finance inventory from trade-ins, off-street purchases, and online sources alongside traditional auction acquisition.

The leadership team is led by President Scott Maybee, with a structure that includes VPs and AVPs overseeing operations portfolio management (Nicole Graham-Ponce), sales (Tara Galloway), marketing (Jessica Lanier), product and engineering (Jennie Kilgore), and corporate operations and risk management (Rose Bryant).

Floor Planning Best Practices from NextGear Capital

NextGear Capital publishes educational content aimed at helping dealers use floor plan financing effectively, including the "Floor Planning 101" video and article series. Key takeaways include:

Qualifying for a floor plan requires more than personal credit. While personal credit history is part of the equation, lenders like NextGear Capital evaluate a dealership holistically. Trade references from other lenders and vendors, business credit scores, owner equity in the business, available cash reserves, and the overall financial health of the operation all factor into the lending decision. As a dealer's business grows and these non-credit factors strengthen, they become increasingly important for increasing credit limits — often more important than the owner's personal FICO score.

Using the floor plan at auction is straightforward. NextGear Capital educates dealers on the standard auction-day workflow: check in at the auction, visit the floor plan lender's desk to verify available credit, bid on vehicles, and after winning bring blocked tickets to auction checkout indicating which units to floor plan. The lender handles payment to the auction and title transfer. This back-end efficiency is one reason floor plan financing is so deeply embedded in the wholesale automotive market.

Performance is continuously underwritten. Floor plan lenders monitor accounts constantly, not just at application or renewal. Late curtailments (scheduled principal payments), NSF or returned payments, slow vehicle payoffs, and failed physical audits all appear on the dealer's permanent performance record and will reduce available credit, increase pricing, and limit growth opportunities. Conversely, consistent on-time payments, clean self-audits, and transparent communication build trust and unlock larger credit lines and more favorable terms over time.

More floor planning is not a cure for a broken business model. This is one of the most important principles in the educational content NextGear Capital publishes, and the language is refreshingly direct: "If your business isn't building and growing, then you probably shouldn't be seeking more floor plan dollars. More flooring won't turn around a failing business model. You would just be adding more fuel to the fire." The implication is clear — floor plan financing is a growth tool for healthy businesses, not a lifeline for struggling ones. Before seeking additional credit, a dealer should focus on operational fundamentals: inventory turn rate, gross profit per vehicle, expense control, and customer acquisition cost.

Self-audits save time and reduce disruption. The mobile app's self-audit feature is a significant operational innovation. Traditionally, physical inventory audits required a lender representative to visit the dealership lot, inspect every vehicle on the floor plan, verify VINs, and document condition — often requiring the dealer to halt operations for the audit duration. With self-audits, dealers photograph and document inventory on their own schedule via the mobile app, splitting the work across multiple sessions if needed. This reduces administrative overhead and lets the dealer run the business while staying compliant with audit requirements.

Competitive Context

NextGear Capital competes with a range of other floor plan lenders, including regional banks that offer inventory financing as part of a broader commercial banking relationship, credit union inventory financing programs, and specialty finance companies like Westlake Flooring and AFC (Automotive Finance Corporation). While the floor plan lending market includes many regional and niche players, NextGear Capital's national scale and product breadth make it the clear market leader. Its primary differentiators include:

• Scale and auction acceptance — the 1,000+ auction count is among the highest in the industry, meaning a dealer can use the same line of credit at Manheim auctions, independent auctions, online auctions like OVE, and even direct purchases without needing multiple lenders.
• Cox Automotive integration — data and workflow connectivity with Manheim, Autotrader, KBB, vAuto, Dealertrack, VinSolutions, and other Cox brands creates an end-to-end ecosystem that no competitor can replicate. A dealer can finance a vehicle at a Manheim auction through NextGear Capital, list it on Autotrader with pricing from KBB, and manage inventory through vAuto — all under the Cox umbrella.
• Product breadth and flexibility — Flex Pricing, First Gear, Tiered Pricing, the LLP Program, and self-audit mobile capabilities represent a range of options that not all competitors offer. The ability to move between standard pricing and Flex Pricing, or to add tiered fee structures as inventory mix changes, gives dealers options as their business evolves.
• Dealer count and experience — with over 17,000 active dealer clients and more than a decade of operation, NextGear Capital has accumulated extensive data on dealership performance patterns, risk profiles, and market cycles across diverse geographic regions and business models. This data informs underwriting, product development, and customer service.

The primary limitation is that NextGear Capital's products are designed specifically for independent and franchise dealers, not for consumer-side financing or for non-dealer entities. This focus, however, is also its greatest strength: the entire organization — from product management and underwriting to field sales and customer support — is built around understanding the cash flow cycles, auction workflows, inventory turn rates, and operational challenges that define the independent dealer experience. A general commercial lender financing auto inventory as a side product line simply cannot match the depth of expertise that a specialized floor plan provider brings to each dealer relationship.

Technology and Digital Innovation

NextGear Capital has invested heavily in digital tools that extend beyond basic account management. The NextGear Capital mobile app, available on iOS and Android, provides dealers with a complete floor planning toolkit in their pocket. Beyond the self-audit feature, the app allows dealers to check available credit, view floor plan balances, make payments, request extensions, and manage titles — all without logging into a desktop portal.

The Account Portal itself has been enhanced with new self-service capabilities, most notably the Account Performance Summary. This monthly report gives dealers visibility into key performance metrics: floor plan utilization rates, average days-to-sell by inventory segment, payoff patterns, fee and interest accruals, and comparative benchmarks. For dealers who want to optimize their floor plan usage and improve their credit standing, this data is actionable intelligence that was historically only available through direct conversations with a lender representative.

Recent title management enhancements in the Account Portal give dealers more control and transparency over title status throughout the vehicle lifecycle. This addresses one of the most common pain points in independent dealership operations: tracking title paperwork from auction purchase through retail sale, and ensuring titles are available when a customer is ready to buy. By integrating title management into the same platform used for floor plan management, NextGear Capital reduces the administrative burden on dealers and speeds up the sales cycle.

The Dealer Experience and Customer Stories

NextGear Capital's website prominently features testimonials from real dealer clients, and these stories illustrate the range of ways dealers use the financing product. Hugo Orellena of Metro Area Auto Sales notes, "You can use NextGear pretty much anywhere, they'll help you grow." Dave Guttenberg of Automotive Imports describes using his floor plan on vehicles purchased from eBay, Craigslist, and customer trade-ins alongside traditional auction purchases, saying "the ability to floor those cars on a need be basis is awesome." Nory Pakravan of 210 Auto Credit describes growing from 30-40 units to 85-90 units specifically because of the business partnership with NextGear Capital.

These testimonials highlight two recurring themes in the dealer experience: flexibility in sourcing (the ability to finance vehicles from any source, not just auctions) and the relationship aspect of the lender-dealer partnership. Multiple dealers specifically mention their NextGear Capital representative as a valued resource who provides ideas, tools, and guidance beyond just extending credit. This suggests that NextGear Capital's field sales and account management organization plays an important role in dealer retention and satisfaction, differentiating the company from purely transactional online lenders.

Contact and Support

NextGear Capital can be reached at 1-855-COX-AUTO or 888.969.3721, by email at ngc.customerservice@coxautoinc.com, or through the website at nextgearcapital.com. The company maintains a physical headquarters in Carmel, Indiana, and a field sales organization that works directly with dealers across the country. New credit applications can be submitted through the website's "Apply Now" flow.

Summary

NextGear Capital is the dominant floor plan financing provider for independent auto dealers in the United States, offering a full spectrum of inventory lending products backed by the scale and integration of the Cox Automotive ecosystem. Its products range from standard floor plans and the deferred-payment advantage of Flex Pricing to startup-focused First Gear programs, Tiered Pricing for cost flexibility, and the trade-in payoff management of the LLP Program.

With $17+ billion in loans originated, 17,000+ active dealer clients, acceptance at more than 1,000 auction locations, and a growing suite of digital tools including the mobile app, self-audit capabilities, and the Account Portal's Performance Summary, NextGear Capital serves as the financial engine behind a substantial portion of the independent used car market. Its position as a Cox Automotive subsidiary creates unique data and workflow advantages that are difficult for standalone competitors to replicate.

For independent dealers looking to grow their inventory, improve cash flow management, and simplify the administrative burden of floor planning — whether they are startups seeking a first credit line through First Gear or established operations looking to optimize with Flex Pricing — NextGear Capital offers a comprehensive, technologically modern, and relationship-driven solution to the perennial challenge of financing vehicle inventory.

Research sourced from nextgearcapital.com. Certain conditions, terms, and eligibility requirements apply. All advances made in California by NextGear Capital are made pursuant to NextGear Capital's California Finance Lender License #603G505. Dealers should refer to the terms and conditions of their Demand Promissory Note and Loan and Security Agreement, applicable Advance Schedule, and any other written agreements with NextGear Capital for complete details.