1. Your oldest unit?
2. Where is it parked?
3. Your look-to-book?
4. Your most expensive unit?
5. What’s your wholesale to retail ratio?
6. Who owns your used car department?
7. How many turns are you getting a year?
8. What’s your average cost per unit in stock?
9. How many clicks does it take to get from A to B on your website?
10. How many days does it take to get a unit through recon and on the line?

There are lots of things you need to know. I’m just pointing out 10 of them. That’s all I’m gonna ask, Tommy Gibbs

Did you ever wonder why you can’t achieve and maintain maximum success in your used car department?

When you analyze it you have a pretty good inventory. You’re not short on operating capital. The amount of space you have is ok and most of the management staff seems to have a pretty good understanding of the importance of having a good used car department. You have great software that you use to stock and price your inventory and you do a nice job of reconditioning your inventory.

So what could it possibly be?
I’m gonna tell you.
Are you ready?
Are you really ready?
Here it comes…hang on.
I’m gonna tell you.
I won’t lie to you.
I have the answer——“nobody owns the department.” It’s that simple.

Until you or somebody takes ownership, it ain’t gonna happen. I realize every dealership has some restrictions on the amount of management staff that can be allocated to any one department, but far too often used cars are an add-on for someone on the team.

Maybe it’s sorta the GM’s responsibility.
Maybe it’s sorta the GSM’s responsibility.
Maybe it’s sorta the Desk Manager’s responsibility.
Maybe it’s sorta the Sales Manager’s responsibility.
Maybe it’s sorta the combination used car manager/sales manager’s responsibility.

See what I mean? Nobody owns it. Yes, the duties of a used car manager today are far different than they were 20 years ago. There are some situations where we are asking some “used car managers” to do things they don’t have the skills to do. Just because someone understands the wholesale market doesn’t mean they understand the retail market.

When somebody owns the used car department they come to work every day on a mission:

On a mission to make it happen.
On a mission to get people excited.
On a mission to ensure units aren’t aging.
On a mission to get units through the system.
On a mission to make sure the inventory is turning.
On a mission to get cars online and on the line ASAP.
On a mission to build a team that gets after the used car market.
On a mission to study the best of the best and make the department the best it can be.
On a mission to identify and have a strategic plan in place to make the problematic units go away.
On a mission to sell everyone on the role the used car department plays in the overall success of the dealership.

Who owns your used car department? That’s all I’m gonna ask, Tommy Gibbs

Everyone has problem cars from time to time. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones that want to stick around forever. The ones you haven’t yet found a buyer for.

But where did they come from? How did they all of a sudden end up on your lot? Did they just fall out of the sky?

Can you imagine how much better off you would be if you could identify problem cars on day 1 vs. day 61? Suppose you had a strategy in place to deal with them sooner rather than later?

The number one problem I see in the industry is we just don’t pay attention. We don’t pay attention soon enough. By the time we realize we have a problem, it’s too late.

Take the time to do a “trade walk” which includes all purchase units, and be blatantly honest about what you’re staring at.

Then put a strategic plan in place to deal with the more problematic units. If you did nothing more than that, you’d have a lot less units falling from the sky, hitting you in the head and giving you a headache.

And, you would have a lot better bottom line. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

There’s a book out by Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton that has the perfect title for the automobile business, “It’s Not the Big that Eat the Small…It’s the Fast that Eat The Slow.”

Some new car dealers believe the definition of Velocity is:

“Velocity-a method of giving your cars away so as to impact your gross to a point of a substandard amount that will make you want to throw up your hands, beat yourself over the head, and barf.”

I have a new definition for the word velocity; the whipping boy of the auto industry that can be blamed when we use software pricing tools as the Bible, don’t use our brains and don’t use the tool as it was intended in the first place.

You can make one of two choices:

1. Hold high gross profit per unit.
2. Do lots of volume at a little lower gross.

Which way do you think is going to pile up the most gross to pay the bills at the end of the month?

Dealers have been known to complain that when they went on the velocity method of pricing their used cars to market, their grosses went south. Well duh, of course they did.

What actually happened is those dealers had let their inventories age on them and when they finally priced them to market they got crushed.

Software won’t save you. Having discipline and using your brain will save you. There will be pain unless you use your brain. I like that, “Pain, if you don’t use your brain.”

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

So, how was your June? How have your first six months been? It’s July. Half the year is gone. Kinda scary isn’t it?

Some of you have had a great first half. Some of you, not so much.

Some of you have been running full speed ahead. Some of you have been dragging through the sand.

Something has been holding you back. There may be some legitimate excuses, but maybe you just had the wrong plan in place. Just because you had the wrong plan does not mean it’s too late to fix it. You’ve still got 6 more months to go.

Those of you who have had a good first 6 months need to be cautious of becoming complacent. Even though things have been going well, you would be very smart to review how you can make things better as you tackle the second half.

Everything we do is about choices. You can choose to let things be as they are or you can choose to dial it up a notch or two.

To do so means to review your plan and the strategies you have in place. And, make the changes that are necessary to get you where you know you need to go. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs