vAuto Podcast

Latest Episodes:

A Preview of vAuto Innovations Debuting at NADA 2025 Jan 09, 2025

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In this vAuto podcast, vAuto’s Derek Hansen, Patrick Janes and Micah Tindor discuss the innovations vAuto will debut at NADA 2025 in New Orleans. They discuss how the new solutions help dealers and dealer groups implement a more consistent appraisal process with customers looking to sell or trade a vehicle, and centralize inventory management decision-making to improve rooftop-level performance.

Live Market View Q4 2024 | Managing Risk Amid Strong Used Vehicle Sales Dec 19, 2024

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In the Q4 Live Market View, Derek Hansen and Chris Stutsman discuss used vehicle sales, inventory and depreciation trends in Q4. They also share how predictive data science and AI-driven solutions from Cox Automotive help you identify each vehicle’s unique profile of investment risk and opportunity, price each vehicle to move in its ROI-optimal timeframe, and create more targeted engagements with current and prospective customers.

A Sneak Preview of Dale Pollak’s New Book, Invested Dec 13, 2024

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In this vAuto podcast, vAuto founder and Cox Automotive Executive Vice President, Dale Pollak shares a sneak peek of his new book, Invested: The New Science, Strategy and System of Used Vehicle Investment Management. Pollak shares: Why he believes market conditions now require dealers to adopt investment management principles to contend with higher vehicle costs and declining front-end grosses. How the book gives dealers a way to establish strategic, investment-minded objectives for vehicle acquisition, appraising and pricing. Where he thinks the market will head in 2025 (hint: mostly favorable, with some uncertainty).

Don't Let Historic New Vehicle Troubles Haunt You Today Nov 15, 2024

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This webinar, “Don't Let Historic New Vehicle Troubles Haunt You Today” presented by Bethany Johnson and Alicia Rudowyj, gives you the tools to work smarter, not harder, in this new era of new vehicle incentives. Get best practices from top-performing dealers and the tools they use to help you accurately and efficiently apply the right incentives to the right vehicles faster.

How Rodland Toyota Makes Wholesaling Vehicles a Multi-Channel Priority Nov 07, 2024

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In this vAuto podcast, Lee Segal, general sales manager at Rodland Toyota, Everett, WA, details how the dealership uses a blend of online and physical auctions to efficiently wholesale roughly 100 vehicles a month. Segal details how the dealership’s multi-channel wholesaling strategy strengthens the store’s ability to acquire vehicles from customers and feed their retail inventory. Segal also highlights wholesaling best practices he follows to build relationships and trust with buyers and deliver an optimal return for each vehicle they wholesale.

vAuto Live Market View | Q3 2024 Oct 11, 2024

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It’s a head-scratcher: Despite ample inventory and relatively strong demand, new vehicle sales aren’t living up to expectations. What gives? vAuto’s Derek Hansen and Chris Hanna provide answers and practical next steps in the Q3 edition of vAuto’s Live Market View. Get a quick view of how affordability, risk-averse lenders and more-difficult-to-manage incentives put the onus on dealers to move metal. Hear best practices to more effectively manage your new vehicle investments—all with an eye to help you capture a greater share of your market despite the headwinds.

Avoiding 5 Common Online Merchandising Missteps Sep 19, 2024

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In this vAuto podcast, vAuto Performance Managers Jim Tourigney and Patrick Wright detail best practices to help dealers avoid the five most-common merchandising missteps that result in used vehicles not moving when they should. From rethinking the role merchandising plays in your sales process to an over-emphasis on re-pricing rather than re-merchandising vehicles, Tourigney and Wright offer practical pointers to help dealers gain efficiency as they get more from their merchandising and related promotion efforts. Bonus: The pair also distill key distinctions between merchandising new and used vehicles to better engage their respective buyers.

Keeping Stores “Between the Lines” to Drive Dealer Group Performance Sep 12, 2024

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In this vAuto podcast, Scott Crompton, Marketing Manager for Victory Automotive Group and Dustin Corder, vAuto Performance Manager, share how they work together to help Victory drive success across its nearly 45 stores in 10 states. Crompton details how Victory establishes operational guidelines and key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure individual rooftops serve the broader group’s interests as they make vehicle acquisition, appraising and pricing decisions. Crompton also outlines how he manages and measures the group’s marketing spend in traditional and digital channels to support individual rooftops and the Victory brand.

New Vehicle Incentives: Finding Advantage in a VIN-Specific Environment Aug 09, 2024

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In this vAuto podcast, Alicia Rudowyj and Bethany Johnson, who work with vAuto’s new vehicle incentives and solutions teams, discuss how the new vehicle landscape has shifted to include a larger share of Vehicle Information Number (VIN)-specific incentives to help dealers move aged inventory. Rudowyj and Johnson detail how the shift away from a one-size-fits-all approach to incentives by some OEMs creates pricing and inventory management challenges for dealers. Hear their recommendations on how dealers should assess each new vehicle’s risk profile—and the vehicle’s likelihood to receive an incentive—to ensure their pricing, merchandising and inventory management decisions should combine to connect with today’s affordability-minded new vehicle shoppers and buyers.

From Losing to Making Money: Key Elements of a Dealer’s Used Vehicle Turnaround Aug 02, 2024

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In this vAuto podcast, general manager Walt Kelsey of Kelsey Chevrolet, Greendale, IN, shares how he and his team engineered an impressive turnaround in their used vehicle department. In early 2024, Kelsey’s inventory had nearly twice as many vehicles in stock as they were selling, with more than 100 units over 60 days old and underwater. It was a post-pandemic, wake-up moment. Kelsey outlines how he and his team attacked the distressed inventory, reasserted a more disciplined approach to pricing and appraising and faced significant financial pain as they put the department back on a money-making track. Kelsey’s experience and success offers a what-to-do roadmap for dealers who find themselves with an out-size share of distressed, over-age inventory.

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