What are market development funds (MDF)?
Market development funds (MDF) are budgets a brand makes available to its channel partners — in automotive, dealers — to fund local marketing that develops the brand's market, typically allocated ahead of planned activity rather than accrued from purchases.
MDF is standard vocabulary in North American channel programs; European automotive networks more often say co-op or dealer marketing funds. The mechanics differ mainly in direction: MDF is usually allocated top-down against plans and proposals, while classic co-op accrues bottom-up from dealer purchases and reimburses a percentage of eligible spend.
Both models share the same operating problem: money moves only as fast as plans are approved, proof is validated, and claims are processed. Unused MDF expiring at year-end is the canonical symptom of process friction, not dealer apathy.
In practice
Sizle treats MDF and co-op as configurations of the same machinery — budget scopes, eligibility rules, evidence requirements, and payout flows are defined per program, so one network can run both side by side.