http://www.dalepollak.com Used Car Market - A Guide for Success Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:59:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/02/04/dont-online-auction-proxy-bids-work-dealers/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/02/04/dont-online-auction-proxy-bids-work-dealers/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:59:08 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2577   I’ve been asking that question lately as I hear two recurring complaints from dealers about their ability to buy vehicles via online auction proxy bids: 1. The success rate with proxy bidding is too low. Dealers say they may acquire one out of every 10 vehicles they try to obtain with proxy bids—a 10 [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/02/04/dont-online-auction-proxy-bids-work-dealers/feed/ 2 http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/22/looktobook/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/22/looktobook/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:49:37 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2563 I received the following email regarding look-to-book. My response is below. Could you tell me what the look to book % should be? Thanks Pam   Pam, There are many variables that can affect look-to-book. Some of these include the strength of your new car franchise, whether you require customers to make a firm commitment [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/22/looktobook/feed/ 1 http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/18/cars-pack-money/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/18/cars-pack-money/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:09:43 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2554 Here’s an exchange that I recently had with a used car manager. Dale, My name is Josh. I am the used car manager at a Toyota store. At our store, we averaged 46 new and 30 used for 2011. We have had modest growth in used cars the last couple of years until last year [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/18/cars-pack-money/feed/ 0 http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/17/unknowns-car-retailing/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/17/unknowns-car-retailing/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:32:45 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2545 I recently read a column in the New York Times that discussed the “known unknowns” of our current time. The writer, author Geoffrey Wheatcroft, defines the term as “things that were not at all inevitable, and were easily knowable, or indeed known, but which people chose to ‘unknow.’” He then describes how “known unknowns” were [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/17/unknowns-car-retailing/feed/ 6 http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/13/early-results-provision-system-powerful/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/13/early-results-provision-system-powerful/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:39:24 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2538 Marc Ray of Grogan’s Town Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Ohio sent me an email this morning telling me that his AutoTrader Demand Index for December 2011 was 210.  The demand index is a measurement that shows how well a dealer’s inventory is aligned to what shoppers in their market are searching for on AutoTrader, relative [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/13/early-results-provision-system-powerful/feed/ 0 http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/10/pay-plan-build-transparency-hold-gross/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/10/pay-plan-build-transparency-hold-gross/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:48:55 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2528 I’m seeing a new breed of pay plans emerge at dealerships that seek to balance transparency with customers and the store’s need to make a profit on every deal. Here’s an example from a dealership that has achieved double-digit growth in its used vehicle sales since adopting velocity principles, market-based pricing and a transparency-minded sales [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2012/01/10/pay-plan-build-transparency-hold-gross/feed/ 3 http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/22/dont-dealerowned-vehicles-depreciate/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/22/dont-dealerowned-vehicles-depreciate/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:44:53 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2489 It’s not uncommon for dealers to quietly, sometimes firmly, let customers know the vehicle they believe is worth $X is really worth $Y. “It’s depreciation,” a sales manager might say when offering the customer less for a trade-in than he/she had hoped to get. Curiously, dealers aren’t quite as honest with themselves about the depreciation [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/22/dont-dealerowned-vehicles-depreciate/feed/ 4 http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/21/provision-hits-road-kansas-workshop/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/21/provision-hits-road-kansas-workshop/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:06:00 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2485 Don’t miss the first Provision on-the-road training session from 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. on December 8, 2011, in Overland Park, KS. vAuto senior vice president John Griffin will lead the training/best practices workshop to help vAuto dealers maximize their ability to use Provision’s “3 Easy Clicks” functionality to improve their used vehicle department profits and [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/21/provision-hits-road-kansas-workshop/feed/ 0 http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/11/provisionthe-future-vehicle-inventory-management-arrived/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/11/provisionthe-future-vehicle-inventory-management-arrived/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:40:21 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2436 Today—11-11-11—is huge for me, vAuto and the automotive retailing industry. This day marks the official release of Provision from vAuto. This new inventory management engine is the fulfillment of a vision I’ve had for a number of years—one that kept pushing me to find a better way to blend technology and market intelligence to make [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/11/provisionthe-future-vehicle-inventory-management-arrived/feed/ 0 http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/08/ill-give-inbut/ http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/08/ill-give-inbut/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:20:55 +0000 dpollak http://www.dalepollak.com/?p=2421 I’m getting flooded with calls and e-mails from dealers who want to know more about the 11 a.m. (Central) webinar on Friday (11-11-11) before they commit to participating.  So, I’ll give in just a little bit: The webinar will be the industry’s first peek at vAuto’s new used vehicle management engine that incorporates real-time market [...]]]> http://www.dalepollak.com/2011/11/08/ill-give-inbut/feed/ 0