Available Immediately — New Jersey Dealerships Statewide
Reads the deal. Reads the data. Runs the box.
James Lopez — automotive Finance & Business Manager for New Jersey dealerships. In the box since 2018 — fifteen-plus units a month on the sales floor before that — a dashboard behind every decision, and a written plan to grow with one store for the long haul. My last store, Woodbridge Ford, was sold in 2026 — that's the whole reason I'm on the market.
For New Jersey Dealer Principals & GMs
An automotive finance manager built to strengthen a New Jersey store
If you run an automotive dealership in New Jersey and you're looking for a Finance Manager or Business Manager who treats funding as priority one, presents a menu to every customer, and automates the reporting that's still being built by hand — that's how I run a desk. Every deal e-contracted and paper signed. Every goal tracked from the CRM, not the honor system. And the sales floor coached, not just counted, in partnership with your sales management team.
"Store numbers don't go on the internet — my employers' or yours. The specifics — what the boards showed, what the pay plan looked like, who'll vouch for me — come out on the first phone call, and your store's business gets the same treatment."
Execution, Not Adjectives
The first 90 days in your store
Hiring is a bet on what happens after the handshake. Here's the install sequence — the same one shown with sample data in the Playbook.
Tighten funding
The box first. Menu to 100% of customers, e-contract plus ink on every deal, and stips handled before the customer leaves. Every deal packaged the day it delivers — so funding is measured in days, not weeks.
Install the boards
Daily activity boards, the goal cascade — the math that ties the month's target to each morning's activity — and funding trackers wired straight to your CRM and DMS. No self-reporting, and built with your managers, not around them. Your store's real averages replace assumptions inside the first two weeks.
Raise the floor — with your team
Where ownership wants it: Saturday appointment standards, word tracks trained and role-played, and coaching behind every miss — in partnership with your sales managers, so a stronger turn reaches the box.
Report to ownership
A monthly scorecard on your desk: back-end gross, product penetration, CIT aging, floor pace versus objective, and lender performance — the numbers a principal runs a store on, automated.
Off the Desk
Who is James Lopez
Family man first. Everything else on this site — the funding discipline, the boards, the five-year plan — comes from the same two things I run my life on: dedication and loyalty. Central New Jersey is home, and my commitment to this community, with my family beside me, is long-term. That's why the plan is one store, not five.
Loyalty is a habit, not a slogan
The way I show up at home is the way I show up at the store: all in, for the long haul, not passing through. A dealership I commit to becomes part of my community — and I treat it that way.
The month is won in the mornings
I run — a lot. Running teaches you that results come from pace and consistency, not one big day: you show up when it's cold, you log the miles, you trust the process. It's the same discipline behind a daily board and a CIT list worked every single morning.
Constructive criticism is a gift
I love learning new things, and I'd rather hear the hard note than the easy compliment. Show me a better way to run a desk and I'll run it — then teach it to the people around me. Getting better, and making the room around me better, is the job.
What Else Comes With It
Two things that come with the hire
Need depth? I know where it lives.
Since 2018 in the box — and the sales floor before that — I've worked alongside finance managers, desk managers and closers across Middlesex County and the Route 1 corridor. When you need to fill a seat, those are people I've worked next to, not names off a job board.
NJ Finance Manager — the industry briefing
I also publish njfinancemanager.com — NJ compliance guides plus a periodic briefing on dealership workflows, New Jersey auto retail news, and new model launches from the brands. It's how I stay sharp, and how you can see the way I think.
Straight Answers
Questions dealers ask
What areas of New Jersey do you serve?
What roles are you looking for?
What makes your F&I process different?
How do you hold a sales team accountable?
Why e-contract AND paper on every deal?
Start With What's Slow
Let's talk about your store
Call or text and tell me what's costing the store money right now. I'll tell you how I'd fix it before there's any talk of a pay plan.
609-480-6826