Whitepapers

Pre-Owned Acquisition Checklist for Every Dealership Department Amid ongoing chip shortages and subsequent inventory shortages, buyers are returning to market, translating into consumer concerns over vehicle availability raising demand – and already high sales prices even higher. This combination of factors presents an incredibly valuable opportunity for dealers who can capitalize on historic consumer demand for pre-owned vehicles by consistently stocking their inventory with in-demand used options. This requires getting every department in your dealership on the same page when it comes to pre-owned acquisitions. Leadership Your dealership has an incredibly valuable tool at its disposal to acquire pre-owned inventory: data. By staying up to date on which makes and models are in-demand in your market, dealership sales and service teams are empowered to identify valuable trades or buybacks and automatically make data-driven acquisitions in real time. This starts by setting internal standards for your dealership's buyback expectations to create a uniform process for stocking your lot. Include the following items in your process: � Incentivize sales teams to bring in highly sought-after trades or buyback opportunities. � Ensure your buyback messaging is consistent across every channel, including any signage and any online platforms. � Track your acquisition process, including setting clearly defined goals and objectives. Sales Team From there, standardize your sales team's approach. While this will look different in every dealership, have your team execute the following: � Analyze customer data to identify localized trends and market demand. � Identify which vehicles have sold the best and worst over the last 30-90 days and the average gross of those sales. � Review incoming deliveries against available inventory on-hand to determine the greatest areas of need and opportunity, accounting for any delivery delays. � Review all incoming buybacks and customer trades to determine each vehicle's average value and whether to send the vehicle to auction or add it to your pre-owned inventory. An estimated 1.3 million fewer light vehicles were produced in the first quarter of 2021 due to semiconductor shortages. IHS Markit, March 2021

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