Ford Motor Co. executive chairman Bill Ford recently said that Ford seeks “certainty” regarding trade tariffs. To be sure, times are rough for automakers, who generally plan years ahead. Uncertainty for the manufacturer trickles down to the retail level. Dealerships will surely be impacted if more tariffs are imposed. But some brands may be more impacted than others, lending another layer of uncertainty.
Any uncertainty in the retail auto world impacts the dealership buy sell environment. This week, MBAF returns to Automotive Buy Sell Report with a look at how tariffs may impact the automotive industry and the dealership buy sell environment.
One recommendation MBAF makes for dealerships looking to get ahead of any tariff impact is to review expenses for opportunities to become leaner. In the first two parts of its three-part series on benchmarking, Citrin Cooperman has examined how sales and labor benchmarking can help improve your dealership’s performance. This week it looks at benchmarking inventory. The column speaks directly to the suggestion by MBAF that dealerships look for opportunities to become leaner. For example, a daily stock order process can help maintain efficient inventory levels.
I was speaking with a dealership group executive this week regarding contributing to Automotive Buy Sell Report. I’d like to have more voice of the dealer in ABSR. If you are a dealer principal with some thoughts you’d like to share, or a dealership group marketing manager who wants to show off how smart your group’s executives are, drop me an email!
This dealership group executive said he and his colleagues read ABSR every day to see what buy sell news it has. But, he wasn’t familiar with our additional content. Sad emoticon. I do know, of course, that Transaction News is our most-loved section.
So, this week we also bring you Transaction News!
Enjoy!
