Do you know how long the vehicle preparation time in your car dealership really is?

How knowing the answer is the key to used car profitability.

With the emerging importance of the used car business following the COVID-19 lockdown, understanding how long your vehicle preparation time is, and how this can be improved, is crucial for maximising used car profitability.  With margins on used car ROI often targeted at 100% gross profit, the ability to monitor every stage of the process from used car stock purchase to resale is crucial. When vehicle preparation is managed properly, dealership used car profitability is transformed, adding as much as 25% gross profit to the bottom line.

How efficient is your vehicle preparation process?

Many dealerships have vehicle progressors and paper-based systems that work, but often do not provide the management information to measure department performance.

This makes spotting bottlenecks and process inefficiencies difficult, if not impossible. For many dealers, the time taken from the day the hammer goes down at auction until the vehicle is on sale is weeks, not days.

During a recent MotorVise dealer consultation, the dealership’s average vehicle preparation time was proven to be 19 days on average, some 11 days longer than their 8-day estimation, based on the information readily available to them.

Diagram showing stages of used car vehicle preparation for sale

Assuming the vehicle preparation process flows as the diagram above, there are many areas for a bottleneck to develop between departments, or even at stages within the same department. A vehicle sitting idle can end up losing any chance of profitability. Multiply that across the potentially hundreds of vehicles on-site, and the importance of tracking preparation time accurately becomes very clear.

By achieving more efficient check-in and vehicle preparation processes, vehicles are sold more quickly, resulting in faster stock turn, a corresponding reduction of stocking charges, and an increase in car sales. All of which leads to a greatly improved profit per unit from your used car business.

How do you reveal your true vehicle preparation time?

 

– Imagine if a software system could let senior managers see all cars in this process, and exactly which stage they are, at all times.
– Imagine a software system that automatically feeds cars from one department to another, where each department is incentivised to get the car passed on as quickly as possible.
– Imagine being a Bodyshop manager where work to be completed is available, prioritised, and parts pre-ordered before the vehicle even arrives in your department.

The Vehicle Progressor software system, provided by MotorVise, offers all of the above. It accurately depicts, at a glance, where in the preparation process any vehicle is. It tracks how many vehicles are due into which department, and where any backlog might be. Perfect for a managerial assessment of the car prepping process, increasing efficiency, and ultimately used car profitability.

So do you know how long your vehicle preparation time is? The MotorVise Vehicle Progressor is available on a monthly fee basis. For more information, click here.

If you think your dealership could benefit from improving its vehicle processing system, or you want to increase your used car profitability, contact MotorVise on 01325 637251.

*The information and quoted statistics contained in this website are for general information purposes only. While we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. We can inform you what is likely to be achievable for your business before entering into a contract for any of our products and services.


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