How Smith Auto Group Achieves Two Key New Car Objectives

Terry Chechakli, Smith Auto Group Smith Auto Group is a six-store, five location group based in Fort Smith, Arkansas. They use Conquest in all of their dealerships, Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram; Chevrolet/Cadillac; Chevrolet; Ford; and Nissan. They implemented Conquest to achieve two objectives: Help increase gross/volume at their stores, and gain a competitive edge by offering store-specific pricing strategies at each location. Key benefits: Improved front-end gross profit: Across the group, the stores are up 11% in gross profit (average went from $1313 to $1452). Dealer John Smith Jr. says, “We had to get our heads around the fact that you can gross on new cars and you don’t have to give them all away.” Increased awareness of fast/slow sellers: Conquest provides a clear view of vehicles that will sell quickly and those that represent a bigger challenge. “We can see where we are with every vehicle and know what it’s going to take to move a car,” Smith says. Fewer, and smarter dealer trades: Chechakli says Conquest has helped the dealerships align their new vehicle inventories to market demand. They now use dealer trades for fewer vehicles and, if they do, Conquest gives them insight to avoid trading away their better- performing units. Better factory allocations: Conquest helped the Chevy stores recognize that not all of the 2015 Silverado ¾-ton pick-ups are market winners—particularly the ones they had in white with cloth seats and minimal equipment. “Conquest gave us the ability to match the mix of inventory other dealers had in our market,” Smith says. “We found that in this market, people buying the truck are going all the way and want all the bells and whistles. These Cowboy Cadillacs are strong sellers.” More efficient, competitive awareness: “We’ve moved from having a knee-jerk reaction to keeping a watchful eye on the market,” Smith says. “Before Conquest, we had no way to tell which cars could hold more gross without looking at every single dealer in the area and how they priced every single model. And that was too time-consuming.” Reduced floorplan expense: Smith credits Conquest for helping the dealerships improve factory allocations and reduce floorplan expense by increasing credits through faster inventory turns. How Smith Auto Group Achieves Two Key New Car Objectives

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Page 1: How Smith Auto Group Achieves Two Key New Car Objectives

Terry Chechakli, Smith Auto GroupSmith Auto Group is a six-store, five location group based in Fort Smith, Arkansas. They use Conquest in all of their dealerships, Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram; Chevrolet/Cadillac; Chevrolet; Ford; and Nissan.

They implemented Conquest to achieve two objectives: Help increase gross/volume at their stores, and gain a competitive edge by offering store-specific pricing strategies at each location.

Key benefits: Improved front-end gross profit: Across the group, the stores are up 11% in gross profit (average went from $1313 to $1452). Dealer John Smith Jr. says, “We had to get our heads around the fact that you can gross on new cars and you don’t have to give them all away.”

Increased awareness of fast/slow sellers: Conquest provides a clear view of vehicles that will sell quickly and those that represent a bigger challenge. “We can see where we are with every vehicle and know what it’s going to take to move a car,” Smith says. Fewer, and smarter dealer trades: Chechakli says Conquest has helped the dealerships align their new vehicle inventories to market demand. They now use dealer trades for fewer vehicles and, if they do, Conquest gives them insight to avoid trading away their better-performing units.

Better factory allocations: Conquest helped the Chevy stores recognize that not all of the 2015 Silverado ¾-ton pick-ups are market winners—particularly the ones they had in white with cloth seats and minimal equipment. “Conquest gave us the ability to match the mix of inventory other dealers had in our market,” Smith says. “We found that in this market, people buying the truck are going all the way and want all the bells and whistles. These Cowboy Cadillacs are strong sellers.”

More efficient, competitive awareness: “We’ve moved from having a knee-jerk reaction to keeping a watchful eye on the market,” Smith says. “Before Conquest, we had no way to tell which cars could hold more gross without looking at every single dealer in the area and how they priced every single model. And that was too time-consuming.”

Reduced floorplan expense: Smith credits Conquest for helping the dealerships improve factory allocations and reduce floorplan expense by increasing credits through faster inventory turns.

How Smith Auto Group Achieves Two Key New Car Objectives