Artificial intelligence is no longer a concept reserved for tech companies and science fiction. It is showing up in dealership parts departments right now, and the managers who understand what it can do — and begin embracing it — will have a meaningful operational advantage over those who wait on the sidelines. At its most […]
For many parts managers, the annual physical inventory produces a moment of genuine anxiety — not the count itself, but the reconciliation that follows. When the final inventory value lands significantly above or below the general ledger balance, the questions start flying: Where did the difference come from? Who is responsible? And how do we […]
When acquiring a new car dealership, buyers and sellers alike spend enormous energy negotiating real estate values, blue sky, customer pay metrics, and F&I performance. Attorneys review every line of the purchase agreement. Accountants scrutinize the financials. And yet, one of the most financially consequential elements of the entire transaction is frequently handed off with […]
Wholesale parts sales can look very attractive on paper. Volume goes up, your parts counters stay busy, and your inventory turns faster. But wholesale is not the right move for every dealership parts department, and jumping in without an honest assessment of your resources, your market, and your margins can leave you worse off than […]
If it feels like backordered parts have become a permanent fixture of dealership life, that is because they have. Supply chain disruption — driven by semiconductor shortages, geopolitical instability, tariff uncertainty, and raw material constraints — has been the number one challenge facing automotive parts departments year after year since 2022. The situation has improved […]
In today’s competitive dealership services landscape, it seems like every consulting firm, every coaching company, and every fixed operations vendor has added physical inventory to their list of offerings. It sits right there on their website alongside warranty rate reimbursement consulting, parts department coaching, management training, and half a dozen other services. Physical inventory is […]
One of the most underutilized tools in a dealership parts department is also one of the most valuable: the manufacturer’s parts return program. Every major automotive OEM provides franchised dealers with some mechanism to return slow-moving or obsolete parts for credit. But the details — how much you can return, how often, which parts qualify, […]
Technology moves fast in the automotive industry, and nowhere is that more apparent than in dealer management systems. If your dealership is still running on a legacy platform like CDK or Reynolds & Reynolds, you may not realize how much has changed — or how much your parts department could gain by making the switch […]
When parts managers talk about growing their business, the conversation almost always gravitates toward wholesale — more accounts, more delivery runs, more volume. Wholesale absolutely has its place, but there is a sales category sitting right in front of you that often gets overlooked, underdeveloped, and understocked: retail parts sales. For dealerships willing to invest […]
For many new car dealership parts departments, wholesale is an afterthought — a few accounts here and there, orders taken when they come in, no real strategy behind it. That is a missed opportunity. A well-developed wholesale operation can add significant gross profit dollars to your department, improve your parts velocity, reduce obsolescence, and give […]