Pain Point 5 - Stovepipes

Dealer Pain Points

As we delve deeper into our series on dealer pain points and ways to overcome them, our fifth article in the series explores the issues of having to navigate several franchises within one group, each with their own requirements and applications.

Better navigate OEM stovepipes

The digital landscape of the modern dealership group is complicated by its relationship with the various manufacturers it represents including different standards and requirements to use specific suppliers which can obstruct cohesion and comprehensive group-wide management strategies.

The OEMs’ ‘stovepipe’ approach to retailing whereby information flows in one way and does not take account of the group as a whole makes creating a holistic business environment almost impossible.

Little wonder that senior leaders struggle to grasp the far-reaching nature of the various systems at work in all its dealerships as well as the duplication of applications and licences which are likely to exist as a result.

Throw into the mix, smaller dealerships and dealer groups swallowed up by increasingly larger groups and the issue of applications and potential duplications as well as legacy systems and contracts, makes a complex picture overwhelming.

Such a web of franchises with their variety of OEM standards means dealerships often operate as a micro businesses unable to be fully integrated as part of a wider group with the advantages of singularity of focus, connectivity and collective bargaining power. In fact, it can even be easier for dealerships to operate on an individual basis.

On the face of it, gaining a handle on the intricacies of different systems in operation and the tasks which are performed by various applications, often to meet manufacturer standards, can seem insurmountable but in a challenging environment where dealers need to balance the books with rising employment costs and overheads, efficiencies have never been so important.

Autofinity’s vehicle inventory and online marketing platform ViHUB provides the oversight dealer group senior managers need. The platform enables supplier, OEM and marketing portal systems to integrate and pools that information creating one rich data source for each vehicle in group stock. It also enables updates to be made in the ViHUB platform which populates all other integrated systems including the OEM portals in one place.

ViHUB also manages used cars, new cars, pipeline vehicles, courtesy cars, and staff vehicles. Any vehicle which comes into group stock at any time and at any stage of its journey can be incorporated into the platform making it instantly visible to all dealership and group-wide users.

Pipeline vehicles can be uploaded together with unregistered manufacturer models which are available for dealers to sell but where there is no physical vehicle in group stock.

ViHUB takes group-wide vehicle inventory way beyond the used car feed and allows every vehicle in stock, even those not on the forecourt itself, to be marketed for sale on all online marketplaces whilst allowing dealers to utilise OEM portals and specified systems without the need for double keying.

With full visibility of a group’s inventory and updates to vehicle details in one place, ViHUB puts dealers in the driving seat whatever the OEM requirements.