vAuto Podcast: “Invest right now…so we can pay it forward for ourselves in the future”

Missing the Import of Current Retail Automotive Conditions

It seems as if nearly everyone in the industry, especially dealers, wants answers to two important questions: When will the current chip shortage, which is affecting new vehicle production levels...

A Remarkable–and Familiar–Time for Used Vehicle Retailing

This is normally the time of year when I caution dealers about their high hopes for a strong spring selling season in used vehicles. The caution relates to the tendency of dealers to speculate...

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Three Principles to Fuel Your Fourth Quarter in Used Vehicles

My phone’s been buzzing with dealers asking for input on how they should manage and stock their used vehicle inventories as 2020 comes to close. The questions come from a confluence of factors...

An Unprecedented Market Teaches Three Important Lessons

Unprecedented times tend to yield unprecedented outcomes. That’s been the story for dealers during the past several months in used vehicles. As I’ve noted here before, many dealers were able to...

Why It’s Time to Get Back to Business In Used Vehicles

Like many dealers, I’ve been amazed by the resilience of the retail market for used vehicles during the past four months. I’ve heard from multiple dealers who set sales records in May, June and...

A Case for Stocking Up Now on Used Vehicle Inventory?

For much of the past several months, I’ve advocated that dealers take a cautious approach to the way they replenish their used vehicle inventories. Last week, I shared how dealers should...

A Calculation to Cross-Check Your Used Vehicle Inventory Levels

It’s been impressive to see dealers retailing more used vehicles despite the smaller inventories many have been forced to carry due to lower-than-usual availability of wholesale supplies. Across...

A Strong Market Exposes Gross Deceptions in Used Vehicles

In my latest book, Gross Deception: A Tale of Shifting Markets, Shrinking Margins and the New Truth of Used Car Profitability, I address several “gross deceptions” that have long been part of the...

Dealers Achieve An Industry First for Inventory Efficiency

It’s almost a tired saying these days: We all must learn to do more with less. But I’d like to point out what amounts to a true-blue, and potentially historic, example of dealers doing more with...

Taking Notice of Two Used Vehicle Market Trendlines

There are two trendlines in the used vehicle market that merit every dealer’s attention. The first is the rolling seven-day average of retail sales across the country. A month ago, the rolling...

A View of Bears and Bulls in the Current Used Vehicle Market

It’s refreshing to see what might be called a boost of confidence among dealers related to their used vehicle departments. Dealers are seeing surprisingly strong retail sales volumes, and many...

A Gross Deception: You Don’t Need To Stock More to Sell More

A vAuto Performance Manager (PM) made an astute observation about the belief among dealers that you need to stock more vehicles than you typically sell. “I see it time and time again,” the PM...

NADA 2020: A Pause While Packing For Las Vegas

While preparing to head to Las Vegas for the annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention, I read an item that gave me pause. The item arrived in my news feed this morning, in...