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 […]
For most automobile dealership parts departments, inventory is the single largest asset on the balance sheet. It represents hundreds of thousands — sometimes millions — of dollars in capital. Yet in departments across the country, that asset is quietly being eroded by inaccurate on-hand counts, undetected obsolescence, and inventory records that no longer reflect reality. […]
Walk into almost any dealership parts department and you will find the same scenario: a dealer management system loaded with powerful features, and a team using about twenty percent of them. The DMS is the central nervous system of your parts operation, yet most managers treat it like a glorified cash register. If you are […]
Most parts managers know the traditional levers for improving profitability — tighten up obsolescence, improve fill rate, watch your pricing matrix. These fundamentals matter. But in today’s competitive dealership environment, the parts departments that truly stand out are the ones going beyond the basics, finding creative ways to grow both gross and net profit while […]
Acquiring a new car dealership is one of the most significant financial transactions a dealer group or individual operator can make. There are attorneys, accountants, and brokers involved at every step — and rightfully so. Yet one critical piece of the process is often handed off to the lowest bidder or, worse, handled informally with […]
If It’s Not in the Bin, It Doesn’t Exist Ask any experienced parts manager what separates a smooth-running department from a chaotic one, and chances are they will mention bin checks. Perpetual bin checks — the regular, systematic process of physically counting and verifying parts inventory against what your dealer management system shows on hand […]
Special order parts, commonly referred to as SOPs in the dealership world, are an unavoidable part of managing a parts department. Not every part a customer or technician needs will be sitting on your shelf, and that’s okay. What’s not okay is letting those orders pile up unmanaged, quietly draining your cash flow and eventually […]
January is an ideal time to reflect on and evaluate the prior year. Naturally, we begin by reviewing key financial metrics such as return on investment, year-over-year revenue changes, and gross profit margins. However, it is equally important to assess the non-financial aspects of our businesses—elements that are often taken for granted, yet can be […]