Key facts

  • A D segment brand car was worth 50% less in 2005
  • ...than an equivalent model in 1997
  • Model proliferation has risen 42% in the last 3 years
Silver car light

Making dealers more profitable...

Most dealers in Europe have very low levels of profitability, often with margins of only one to two per cent, and with many making a loss. This is in stark contrast with the USA, where profitability is much higher.

In Europe, over 60% of the average dealer's profit comes from aftersales parts and service.

We make dealers 'think like retailers' so they will:
 
  • increase workshop / bodyshop throughput: get more customers through the store
  • improve customer retention: get more loyal customers returning to the store
  • improve customer spend per repair: get more spend per visit in the store

In aftersales, growth can be achieved by persuading dealers that:

  • they should target lifetime earnings from each car sold
  • selling a car is the start of the earnings stream, not the end
  • when selling a car they should pre-book the next service
  • they should ensure customers are fully satisfied at every visit

The following relates purely to the profit contribution from service labour, which for an average dealer is around 200,000 Euros.

If a dealer adds one additional customer visit a day this will be worth around 200 - 300 Euros revenue. One more customer per day for 220 days equates to 55,000 Euros or a 28% increase in dealer labour profit.

A dealer can increase sales by 10 to 15% in addressing work that needs to be done to meet legal and OEM standards. This typically adds around 25 Euros, which for 2,000 visits per year equates to an additional 50,000 Euros.

This illustrates how an average dealer can increase profit on labour by around 50% through revenue generation within the existing customer base.

We also make dealers 'think like manufacturers' to turn revenue into profit:

By implementing industrial engineering processes, a dealer can substantially improve workshop throughput to achieve more revenue from the same (or even reduced) assets and people.

Research shows that around 30% of technician time is wasted and 30% is spent on indirect activities that do not result in revenue generation.

Simple process improvements can deliver 15 - 20% productivity improvement and advanced re-engineering of workshop practices can generate around a 50% productivity improvement.

These best practices offer enormous opportunities for improvement in dealers which are mature, and have a well trained workforce. A change in mindset is essential to success.

We can help deliver these improvements by giving dealers the training and consultancy to change the way they work.

© 2010 Clifford Thames
Clifford Thames, Springfield Lyons House, Chelmsford Business Park, Chelmsford Essex, CM2 5TH, UK, +441245 236600