Pointers to Help You Play in Today’s Challenged CPO Market

A recent report from Cox Automotive highlights a pain point many dealers will know all too well—if you want to stock one- to three-year-old vehicles, it’s almost impossible to acquire them without...

ProfitTime GPS in Practice: ‘Start Small’ to Adopt ROI-Minded Used Vehicle Management

Tim Hlavenka, national sales director for the Rick Case Auto Group, says the adoption of ProfitTime GPS and the ROI-minded Variable Management strategy it supports didn’t come easy or happen...

A View of the Rising Cost of Trade-in Appraisal “Bumps”

As I work with dealers, I’m seeing the return of a practice that largely went away in the past few years as dealers were hungry for new vehicle inventory and consumers were willing to pay MSRP or...

How independent dealers can beat the margin crunch with technology and tools | vAuto

Declining margins are putting pressure on independent dealers nationwide. Learn how the right tech and the right partners can help keep your dealership on the path to profitability.

A vAuto Veteran’s View of the Evolution and Importance of Performance Management

Chris, who has been with Cox Automotive for 15 years, shared his insights on the role of performance managers and how they help vAuto dealers achieve greater success.

Three Reasons Automated Used Vehicle Pricing is a Bad Idea

I’ve run into a consistent theme in recent conversations with dealers: What do you make of systems that automatically price used vehicles? The question has also led to requests that we change...

vAuto Makes First-of-its-Kind Inventory Management Certification Available to Any Dealer at Zero Cost

Are Your Used Vehicle Prices Right for the Current Market?

With April in the books, I thought I’d take a moment to highlight a feature of the current used vehicle market that, judging from recent conversations with dealers, appears to have been misread or...

Rethinking the “Right”-ness of Your Used Vehicle Inventory

Over the past several weeks, it’s become clear to me that many dealers need to think more deeply about the composition of their used vehicle inventories. By composition, I mean the right number...

Automotive Merchandising Trends: What Dealers Need to Know | vAuto

Learn strategies to more effectively merchandise your new and used car inventory.

vAuto Expands Upside, Giving Sellers in Texas a New Way to Wholesale | vAuto

vAuto continues its mission to help dealers maximize returns on every vehicle with a significant expansion of its one-of-a-kind wholesale solution, Upside, into the Texas market.

A Quick Clarifier on How To Think About “Bronze” Vehicles

I appreciated a dealership GM’s comment the other day that he views Bronze vehicles as the equivalent of vanilla ice cream. That is, like vanilla ice cream, Bronze cars are common, available from...

A Tale of Troubled Used Vehicle Department Performance and a Fix

I received the following note from a dealership manager that I thought I’d share: I have a GM and a used car manager who are stuck in 1980 or Covid, take your pick.  We are inverted in ProfitTime...

A Little “Say You, Say Me” in Used Vehicles

A couple days ago I was riding in a car on my way to a dealer meeting when Lionel Richie’s song, “Say You, Say Me,” came on the radio. The tune brought me back to the mid-‘80s when it was all over...

An Emerging Opportunity for Used EVs?

This week, Cox Automotive analysts shared news that may surprise some dealers: Retail sales of used EVs rose sharply in January, an uptick that could owe to the ability of used EV buyers to apply...

ProfitTime GPS and Global Search: A ‘Guardian Angel’ as You Acquire Inventory

While many dealers have been working hard to diversify how they source used vehicle inventory and rely less on auctions, the role of auctions as an inventory-feeder remains necessary. But one of...

Two Innovations to Support Your Inventory Management Strategy | vAuto

Today’s increasingly complex used car industry presents some serious challenges for dealers. It’s getting harder to find cars that align with your inventory management strategy. Read the blog.