VIN Basics Blog

A while back, we wrote an article highlighting some of the key differences between a free VIN decoder service and a paid VIN decoding solution. When actively comparing enterprise-scale, commercial vehicle data solutions for your business, the differences are not as obvious as with free solutions. Many commercial VIN decoding and vehicle data providers offer a robust level of detail for a large number of major OEMs, and may even offer different levels of specificity to match your business's data requirements. Rather than producing an elaborate text-based document to explain the differences, the DataOne team felt it would be more helpful to display how DataOne's VIN decoder API stands out from a basic or standard VIN decoder in an infographic format.

The auto insurance industry, after several years of experiencing unprecedented increases in loss ratio, managed to stem the tide in 2023 by posting a 104.9% mark, a 7% improvement from the prior year that still remains as a net loss. As these organizations continue to see business in the red, owner behavior is shifting in a manner that could easily see a return to loss increases. According to LexisNexis, high claim severity persists, and increased EV sales (up 54% year-over-year) could also inflate loss due to their increased susceptibility to total loss.

Vehicle technology is increasing in complexity besides EVs, and that complexity is a prime driver in added repair and claim costs. A recent AAA report that repairs focused on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) make up over 37.6% of repair costs after a crash. The industry-wide trend toward full vehicle automation is also fundamentally shifting risk from the driver to the car, and insurance risk modeling has not yet caught up to satisfactorily factor this in. McKinsey writes that this “connected revolution” in the automotive industry “means insurance coverage will likely need to shift from drivers to the automakers and software companies responsible for the development and maintenance of various autonomous-driving technologies.”

There’s nothing like the smell of a brand-new car, but with the average cost of new vehicles now sitting at  ~$50K, many consumers have opted for used vehicles as an alternative in recent years. New vehicle prices have spiked since the COVID-19 pandemic, with average transaction prices remaining nearly $11k higher than pre-pandemic back when average transaction prices for new vehicles were ~$37k. In this article, we will discuss some of the key drivers behind increased vehicle prices, how it has impacted the auto industry, and why a comprehensive vehicle data solution is even more important for the automotive businesses impacted.

The success of an e-commerce automotive parts platform depends on its ability to accurately convey the parts its customers need to complete their projects, but the automotive industry itself is making this easier said than done. Part returns are unfortunately a significant facet of their operations – the most recent National Retail Federation report showed that auto part returns are the most significant percentage of all returns in retail industries at 19.4%.

The frequency of parts returns is primed to only increase thanks to the worrying trend of parts proliferation; the significant expansions of vehicle trims in recent years, as well as new EVs, have led to enormous increases in the parts needed for effective service and repair. Lang Marketing, which released a study on this topic, has noted that “parts proliferation in the car and light truck aftermarket will soar for the foreseeable future, increasing inventories and the logistical burdens on manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and installers.” The necessity of a much larger parts inventory will naturally mean an increase in needed returns. The time needed to catalog this large volume of returns could disrupt businesses not prepared to handle it, possibly causing damage to your business’ brand and revenue flow. 

Fleet managers commonly struggle with unpredictable maintenance costs, vehicle downtime, and optimizing resale value. These challenges, compounded by a lack of real-time data, create inefficiencies that impact profitability. Effective fleet management, regardless of fleet size, requires taking advantage of many solutions and tools, where the optimization is only as good as the accuracy of the data that is being measured. This article explores a few common areas that can be challenging, specifically – fleet vehicle: acquisition, management, and resale.

The auto maintenance and repair industry has been forced to face transformative changes associated with the aggressive elimination of traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and the new technology variables inherent in a hybrid and EV-focused future. This article discusses how the use of a complete vehicle data solution can help auto repair businesses combat some of the auto industry’s biggest challenges.

Data security failures have become a paramount challenge for the automotive industry to address, with the CDK ransomware attack over the summer highlighting the far-reaching financial and reputational consequences of suffering a critical breach. According to threat intelligence provider SOCRadar, automotive businesses will continue to be an appealing target for cybercrime, because of the vulnerabilities inherent in necessary interconnectivity.

Have you been tasked with picking the best vehicle data and VIN decoding solution for your new business venture or a new product at your current company? There are many things you need to consider when choosing a VIN data solution, such as the depth and breadth of vehicle data coverage, accuracy of the data, pricing, and as discussed in this article, delivery options.

Due to recent economic headwinds, auto insurance providers have had to prioritize profitability over customer acquisition, in order to reverse inflated loss ratios from the past several years. Consequently, as providers have raised rates across the board bynearly 26% in the past year, consumers have significantly increased their rate of policy shopping in an effort to find the best deal, with carrier switching increasing for six consecutive quarters.

The auto insurance market in 2024 is not friendly to consumers. Providers, perhaps in an effort to mitigate rising loss ratio, have increased premiums by 26% in the past year, with plans for these costs to remain elevated through 2025. Consequently, consumers have flocked to auto insurance shopping sites and quoting portals to hunt for the provider that will impact their budget the least, with TransUnion noticing a 12% increase in shopping rates year-over-year in 2023.

The question for auto insurance lead generators and comparative raters is, beyond investing heavily in your market outreach (which is not guaranteed to succeed), how do you stand out as an exceptional product in a market that is both in demand and heavily saturated? How do you make your leads more appealing than your competitor’s leads?