Executive View: How one can Optimise Vehicle Preparation Processes

Chris Barrett, managing director of vAutoStock, explains why it’s so essential that dealers give attention to turning over stock quickly

In response to the most recent 2024 outlook from the SMMT, the brand new automobile market is estimated to total overall volume of 1.974 million units. The primary month of the yr saw 142,876 latest cars registered, an uplift of 10,882 units on January 2023, one of the best performance for the month since 2020 and the 18th consecutive month of growth.

The rise was driven entirely by the fleet market, which rose by 29.9%, while private retail uptake fell -15.8%. Fleets accounted for greater than six in 10 (63.2%) latest cars registered, up from just over half (52.7%) last yr.  What we are able to’t predict is that if these are short cycle fleet registrations that may return quickly to the used vehicle market.

With latest automobile volumes returning with increased RRPs, higher used vehicle prices are here to remain. What has also returned is the monthly book drop we are actually seeing. This could cost dealers as much as 3% a month, which is a big amount for some volume sites.

It’s so essential that dealers give attention to turning over stock quickly, which is currently sitting at 31 days, on average. Most dealers are restricted on the variety of hours available to them for mechanical and bodywork, so it will be important to have a handle on preparation. 

On average, there may be a delay of two days before a vehicle is booked in for any work. Delays are sometimes brought on by waiting for parts that might have been pre-ordered, or a vehicle being held in a single a part of a preparation process whilst one other person/department might be working on it.

Dealers can reduce the typical speed to online significantly with the proper processes in place. For instance, some dealers have reported a drop from 11 days to 6 and check in and appraisal right down to 48 hrs from when a vehicle lands. Having more stock to drive away the identical day, can undoubtedly boost cashflow.

Below are some suggestions for dealers seeking to improve their speed to market via faster preparation:

• Spend time with all and sundry currently involved within the preparation process. Throughout the vehicle preparation process – staff often complete tasks they think are either legacy, or just not required and a waste of time.
• Measure your preparation time. Set your goal preparation time and introduce ongoing monitoring. Often dealers don’t have any measure, or the measure set, doesn’t correspond to the truth.
• Control the prices. The perfect performing businesses maintain a give attention to the ‘costs’ of every vehicle.
• Understand the restrictions of a department. If the bodyshop is filled with stock vehicles, there isn’t a point in buying more that require a lot of bodywork – irrespective of the worth.
• Only sell prepared cars. If vehicles are fully prepared before they’re sold, this may save time for the sales team.

The vAutoStock platform can show dealers a transparent minimal impact on the sales team by way of time. 

Chris Barrett is managing director of vAutoStock