How are things out there on the sales and margins front?

I was chatting with a few other dealers about sales and margins for January and February and some dealers I know have said they had a quiet January while others say it was very busy. We stock around 50-60 cars, mid-range (£10k to £25k), mainly German stuff, and found January a little slow. We still made a healthy bottom-line figure, just slower than anticipated. February has been steady so far with decent leads but auction prices high for quality stock – I’m not paying crazy money to make minimal margin.

I know the old saying ‘You can’t sell an empty space’ is true. But imagine paying £2k to £3k into book for a car to then have a big issue, eg, the gearbox! I know you could upsell products, eg, warranties, finance (to get comms), etc, but surely the risk/reward ratio is against us. What’s your stance for your business? Are you paying good money and sacrificing margin, or are you holding off?

XDR

I broke this rule this week purely because I’ve got an empty yard. Yes I can sell it, but it hurts to pay for it. I feel embarrassed selling cars at the same prices as three years ago, but now I’ve bitten the bullet I’m going to do the same again this week, as I hate twirling my fingers and trying to find things to do.

It’s me

Crazy times at the moment! I’ve seen large(ish) dealers reduce their margins to £600-£700 a car – and I’m talking lumpy stuff. Luckily, we still have decent stock around either in prep or waiting to go on. I’ll hold the bullet for a while until prices level off.

We’ve teamed up with Car Sales Memes to bring you a few of their funniest captions and slogans each month. Enjoy!

XDR

Good January, good start to February. Prices are quite strong at the sales but we are still managing to buy bits to keep stocked up.

A & S

That’s good to hear, A & S! Prices seem to be strong – I’ve heard prices will be even higher next month! Luckily, we’re stocked up and some more cars coming out of prep.

XDR

Search for Car Sales Memes on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and give them a follow!