You’re stocking the wrong inventory

Take a quick look around your dealership. Look long and hard at both your lot and your showroom. Do this and you will quickly see where much of your investment lies…in your pre-owned inventory. If you are willing to invest a significant amount of time and money into your pre-owned vehicles, then the best thing you could do for your dealership is research what kind of cars you are stocking, what the market says about these cars and where you are getting them.

First, what kind of inventory are you stocking? Having looked at the data using tools like AAX and vAuto, I have come to a conclusion. Dealerships will very quickly find themselves in a bind when their pre-owned departments are stocked too heavily with late model vehicles. It’s important to have a healthy balance. I have seen far too many stores with late model vehicles making up 50% or more of their inventories this increases turn rate and the amount you are spending in marketing.

So what does the market say? The table below shows us a breakdown of VDPs (VDPs showing in 10,000 units) in relation to each calendar year. [keep reading]