Here’s how independent car dealers can navigate and thrive in a volatile used car market with the top tools in the industry.
The average vehicle price has increased almost 25% since a year ago. You can use inventory tools like Manheim Express to find quality vehicles at the best value to gain a competitive edge.
Dealertrack can help you locate inventory, from pickup trucks to speciality, so you can keep up with the high customer demand. you can put your transportation fees on your NextGear Capital floor plan.
Did you know, 64% of car shopper want more of the buying process to happen online? Dealer.com can help you create a seamless online experience.
You can access up-to-date market data from vAuto and Kelly Blue Book to access current pricing and market trends in your area.
Bruce Justice was working as a technology sales representative when he decided that he wanted to make some additional money on the side by selling a few vehicles. “In the state of West Virginia, you can sell up to four vehicles a year without a dealer’s license, so that’s how I got my start,” Justice said.
It didn’t take long before Justice decided that he wanted to continue to supplement his income by selling more vehicles, so he decided to get his dealers license and purchase a trailer to set up an office where he could interact with his customers. He was still working full-time at his other job when an opportunity to purchase a dealership presented itself. “I found out that the owners of a dealership in Louisa, KY were looking to downsize during the beginning of the pandemic,” he said. “I decided that I was ready to take the leap and leave my current job instead of staying mediocre, and that’s how Justice Automotive got its start.”
While he was a little hesitant to get a floor plan in the beginning, what he really found challenging was finding a company that would approve him for a floor plan since he was new to the independent dealer space. “I reached out to a few companies but none of them would work with me,” he said. “When I contacted NextGear Capital they immediately helped me through the approval process and I got my floor plan in a couple of days. Even though I have other options now that I’ve been in business for a while, I’ve decided to stay loyal to NextGear Capital because they’ve been there for me since the beginning.”
Now that he’s had his floor plan for over a year, he says that getting one was the right decision. “It’s really simple, the more vehicles I have the more I can sell. I like Account Portal and think it’s more user-friendly than other online account management systems. I also really like my Portfolio Manager, we work really well together and it’s been a good relationship.”
While he took all the precautions necessary to keep his customers safe during the pandemic, he didn’t make any changes to his business model or sales strategy. “I just tried to get on with business as usual and ignore the pandemic,” he said. “I list my inventory on Facebook Marketplace and my sales never declined because I was consistent about advertising my inventory and keeping it updated.”
Justice says that his biggest challenge recently has been finding quality vehicles to buy. “Despite the higher prices, sourcing inventory hasn’t been an issue yet but I’m finding that I have to do more maintenance on the vehicles I’m purchasing. I’ve also found that my customers aren’t concerned about the increased price on my inventory as long as they can make the monthly payments, so I work with them on the financing.”
He currently sources his inventory primarily from local auctions but recently signed up with Manheim. While he currently doesn’t use any other Cox Automotive products, he says he would be open to doing so in the future. “I still have a smaller sized car lot but as we grow, I could see using more Cox Automotive products like Dealertrack to help manage my inventory.”
His future goals include growing into his current location which can hold about 65 vehicles, he currently averages around 25 sales a month. “I also want to open a service department and eventually open another location,” he says. “I’ve talked to one of my friends about buying his dealership in a few years when he’s ready to sell it so that’s an opportunity I’m looking forward to.”
When it comes to providing advice to new dealers, he says to just pace yourself, “Start out slow and put the work in. You’ll eventually figure out how much inventory you should be carrying on your car lot and by having a floor plan, you’ll be able to grow your business off that pace.”
Whether you carry 10 or 200 vehicles on your lot, running an independent dealership takes a lot of planning and hard work. From sourcing inventory and marketing your vehicles to answering customer questions and processing paperwork – it can feel like the workday is never-ending. That’s why it’s crucial to use the right tools to help you run your business efficiently. Here are some ways you can use the suite of Cox Automotive Products to streamline your business:
Streamline Inventory Acquisition– Independent dealers know how crucial it is to have the inventory their customers are looking for on their car lot. Manheim has the largest network of used car auctions in the country and offers both in-lane and online sales to independent dealers. You’ll also be able to easily finance your purchases with your NextGear Capital floor plan.
Enhance Vehicle Management – Making sure you’re managing your inventory correctly is vital for any successful dealership and vAuto can help. By accessing up-to-date market insights through Stockwave or harnessing data to drive profits with Provision, you’ll know which types of vehicles to purchase based on your inventory needs and more accurately price and appraise them.
Create a Personal Buying Experience – As more and more car buyers shift to starting the car shopping process online, having a website that’s easy to navigate will set you apart from the competition. Dealer.com provides you with the tools you need to create a personalized sales experience for car shoppers in your area. You’ll also have access to advertising and marketing resources so you can put your best foot forward.
Reach a Larger Audience – Getting your vehicles exposed to a larger group of car shoppers is one of the fastest ways to move them off your lot. Autotrader’s online inventory platform ensures your inventory is seen by a large audience. It also offers independent dealers digital retailing support at a price that won’t break the bank.
Enhance Day-to-Day Support – Are you drowning in administrative tasks? Do you feel your technology is out of date and slowing down your business? Dealertrack is a dealer management system that helps simplify your business processes so you can run your dealership more efficiently. It provides support for everything from building and submitting credit applications to digital contracting, so you don’t have to do all the heavy lifting.
Get Transportation Assistance – With all the challenges that come from sourcing vehicles these days, if you need help transporting your inventory from out-of-state, Ready Logistics has got you covered. It also provides you with the option of putting your transportation costs on your NextGear Capital floor plan.
Make running your dealership easier, more efficient and more profitable by equipping yourself with the top tools and resources in the industry through the Cox Automotive network. Not only will you have access to industry-leading insights, but you can also integrate them with your NextGear Capital floor plan giving you a leg up on the competition.
With market fluctuations causing vehicle shortages and high prices, independent dealers have found themselves looking for new ways to keep high-demand inventory on their lots. Floor plans provide car dealers with financing that can be used to help secure inventory and more. Here are some ways the cash-flow provided by inventory financing can help when dealers need it most:
Inventory Flexibility – If certain makes or models on your car lot aren’t moving due to sudden shifts in your customers’ preferences, you need to react quickly. With inventory financing through a floor plan, your additional capital allows you to pivot so you can make the needed changes to your inventory line up. The additional funding gives you peace of mind knowing you can acquire the vehicles car buyers are looking for and move more metal off your car lot.
Increased Buying Power – When vehicle prices are on the rise, a cash-only strategy may cause some concern with your available cash flow. Not having access to inventory financing can really take a toll on your business. By having access to additional funding through a floor plan line of credit, you’ll have the breathing room you need to cover any sudden price increases.
More Sourcing Options –If you’ve typically relied on getting your inventory from a known and trusted source but vehicle shortages and higher prices are causing you to consider looking at other sources, you can rest assured that your NextGear Capital floor plan has you covered. Your floor plan provides you with the flexibility to floor both auction purchases from over 1,000 live and online auctions, as well as non-auction purchases from dealer-to-dealer purchases, trade-ins and more. With a NextGear Capital floor plan, you can cover nearly any type of remarketed unit. This ensures you not only secure the vehicle you need, but that you do so at the most competitive price.
Supplemental Services –In addition to extra cash flow, a NextGear Capital floor plan gives you access to a dedicated account manager who can provide critical advice and resources like market data, title services, access to Account Portal, and exclusive programs like NextGear Capital’s Consumer Loan Payoff Program. These additional tools can be used to help you streamline your business, so you have more time to focus on running and growing your business.
While you may not be able to control the market, you can take charge of and overcome sudden changes or shifts by having access to inventory financing. Having the right resources by your side will help you navigate through any inventory challenges so you can keep your lot stocked with the vehicles your customers are looking for.
Blaine Adair dipped his toes in the automotive industry when he was just 19, working at a small Ford dealership. It was only a two-person operation, but he enjoyed the work, especially selling cars. After he got engaged, he wanted to be able to provide more for his family so he decided to leave the dealership and took a job at a factory.
After a few years, the factory fell on some hard times and Adair was itching to get back into the automotive industry. He decided to take the severance he received from the factory and try opening his own dealership. “I really wanted to get back to doing something I loved and that’s when I decided it was time to open Shoals Truck Center,” Adair said.
In 2015, his first year, he sold about 80 cars. He was cautiously optimistic about being able to bump that number up to 100 cars the following year, but he was operating on a cash-only basis, which was limiting. “If your cash is tied up in your inventory, you don’t have the cash flow for things like reconditioning or maintenance at your lot, so your cash flow is limiting,” he said. “In order to carry more inventory and sell more cars, I realized that I had to have access to more capital.”
He had heard negative things about floor plans from other dealers in the past so he wanted to make sure he picked one that wouldn’t put him out of business. The research was a little overwhelming, but NextGear Capital always rose to the top when he talked to other dealers who had success with floor planning. “What I’ve come to realize is that it’s not floor plans that put you out of business but mismanaging your funds,” he said.
With his floor plan, he now averages about 30 to 35 units on his lot each month. He says that he’s still old school when it comes to purchasing inventory. “I still prefer purchasing in-person versus online but if an online auction has a good post-sale inspection process and policy, I feel comfortable buying online because I know I won’t end up with a bad vehicle,” he said.
Adair said his experience working with NextGear Capital has been fantastic. He especially appreciates the high level of customer service he receives from his Portfolio Manager if he has any questions and the tools are second-to-none.
“Account Portal is always open on my browser,” he said. “It’s very easy to reconcile units, and I love being able to floor non-auction purchases. Another tool I use a lot is the Consumer Loan Program. If someone’s paying off a car that still has a lien on it, NextGear Capital handles the process for me, making it a breeze.”
Like other independent dealers, Adair said his biggest issue is a shortage of inventory. Before COVID, he used to visit only one auction a week and had a couple of wholesalers whom he would source from. Now he’s shopping at every auction he can. He’s also had to adjust his vehicle pricing due to inflation. The inflated prices at first gave him pause, but he nearly ran out of inventory and only had about six trucks left on his lot. Similarly, it took some of his customers awhile to come to grips with the higher prices but once they did, they were ready to sign on the dotted line.
Adair is looking to continue his steady growth over the next few years and said in hindsight he wishes he would have signed up for a floor plan sooner. He now offers advice to new dealers on the advantages of floor plans and how to make the floor plan work for them. “My advice to any dealer signing up for a floor plan today is not to max out your plan right away,” he said. “Just ease into where you feel comfortable because a lot of the negativity surrounding floor plans comes from people who don’t know how to manage them. And don’t buy crazy stuff, just buy what your customers want so you can move your inventory quickly.”
When you have a floor plan with NextGear Capital, not only do you have access to additional funding, industry-leading tools and local expertise, but you’re also a part of the Cox Automotive network. Cox Automotive has more than 25 brands to choose from to integrate with your NextGear Capital floor plan. Here are just a few ways independent dealers are using Cox Automotive products to optimize their floor plans:
Inventory Acquisition – Whether you’re purchasing inventory in-lane or through your mobile device, when you purchase from Manheim your floor plan will be updated automatically so you can view your inventory and available cash flow in real-time. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about keepings tabs on your titles as they will be available for you to view inside of Account Portal, making for a streamlined process.
Inventory Insights – It’s difficult to keep up with the pace of market trends such as consumer preferences and pricing. That’s where vAuto helps. By providing you with the most up-to-date market data you’ll be able to avoid inventory mistakes and increase your profits. One of their newest tools, Stockwave, provides in-depth insights into the wholesale market so you know which vehicles to purchase, where to find them, and how to price them. These data-driven insights empower you to make informed decisions about the vehicles you’re putting on your floor plan.
Streamlined Solutions – Are you looking to streamline your current business strategy so you can spend more time focusing on the client experience? Dealertrack’s digital management solutions can help you take your independent dealership to the next level by creating a personal buying experience that works for your needs. It also ensures your tools and technology are working together to create a more efficient sales process.
A Digital Advantage – Selling inventory online is a must, so have you asked yourself if your current website is meeting all your needs? Dealer.com provides a personalized car shopping experience while connecting you with in-market buyers across the country. You can also take advantage of its digital marketing services including social and reputation management, as well as search engine optimization. With Dealer.com you’ll stand out from the competition.
Transportation Solutions – When you’re unable to find the inventory you need locally, you need a logistics supplier that makes it easy to get your purchases to your lot quickly and conveniently. Fortunately, when you use Ready Logistics to transport your inventory, not only will you have the industry’s best on your side, you’ll be able to use your NextGear Capital floor plan for your transportation fees.
As part of the Cox Automotive network, you’re getting more for your business with access to the products and tools you need to tackle any challenge and thrive in an ever-changing industry.
Listen to our subject matter experts Dustin Wilkinson, Brandy Hunt, and Danny McNelis discuss all the title features available to NextGear Capital. Also in this video you’ll get a glimpse behind the curtain and hear Brandy talk about how NextGear Capital processes your titles!
Renewed credit facility and securitized term note reinforces NextGear Capital as a strong lending partner for independent dealers
NextGear Capital, a Cox Automotive brand, has completed the renewal of its $1.1B financing facility on August 31, 2021. In addition, the company recently closed its latest $500M bond offering in July.
NextGear Capital’s renewed $1.1B line of credit with industry-leading banks provides a variable funding mechanism to support the seasonal and growth needs of its dealer clients. The bond offering is NextGear Capital’s 13th asset-backed security (ABS) issuance since its initial offering in 2014. Together, they make NextGear Capital one of the most stable financing sources in the marketplace for independent dealers.
“These recent transactions preserve our operating flexibility while allowing us to continue serving the floor plan financing needs of independent dealers,” said Dave Horan, chief financial officer at NextGear Capital. “Our 20,000-plus dealer clients can gain greater confidence that their lender is well established in the capital markets and has a reliable source of capital to fund their inventory needs today and in the future.”
This $500M bond offering was the first for NextGear Capital since March 2020 and represents the first floor plan ABS transaction issued in 2021 YTD. MUFG Securities Americas Inc. served as administrative agent on the bank conduit facility, and RBC Capital Markets was the lead structuring agent and underwriter for the securitized term note offering.
Jon Lang is an entrepreneur at heart. He started his own mobile detailing company when he was just 19. After he talked to some of his customers who worked at local used car lots, he realized he could make more money running his own dealership so he spent the next summer flipping a house so he could use the funds he made to open Mountain Top Motor Company at the age of 25.
The dealership was small and only averaged about five vehicles in inventory, but he said he was hesitant to get a floor plan. “I was anti-floor plan at first but then I talked to one of my dealer friends and he convinced me that the only way I was going to grow was by getting a floor plan,” he said. “I started with a competitor of NextGear Capital’s and then decided to give NextGear a try because they offered better terms and I thought Account Portal was a great platform and easy to use.”
Lang is now 11 years and and has seen a lot in that time. He says that he’s been lucky through the pandemic. While his business saw a dip in sales at first, he’s been doing well since. “It really just takes hard work to thrive during this time,” he said. “I always get to the auction early on sale day so I can do my research and feel confident in the vehicles I’m purchasing.”
He’s planning on expanding by opening a new shop and hiring six mechanics so he can get his inventory ready to sell sooner. All the while, he has continued to floor plan with NextGear Capital to drive his growth. “I could not have achieved what I’ve done without my NextGear Capital floor plan,” he said. “It’s been a great partnership.”
A Small Town Success Story
You might not expect to find a flourishing dealership in the small town of Muscatine, Iowa, during a pandemic but that’s the case at Uptown Motor Sales. Owner David Rood joined the company in 1995 and purchased the dealership two years ago after his partner decided to retire. “I ended up using a lot of the capital I had on hand when I bought my partner out and that impacted my ability to acquire inventory,” he said. “So, when I was at my local Manheim auction buying inventory, I saw an advertisement for NextGear Capital and decided to fill out an application. I was immediately contacted by a NextGear Capital representative who told me I was approved for a $250,000 line of credit and I just couldn’t believe how easy the entire process was.”
Once he had his floor plan, Rood said he was able to quickly increase the amount of inventory he carries. He averages between 55 to 60 vehicles on his lot which is impressive in a town of only about 17,000 people. “The pandemic was incredibly hard on everybody, and it was difficult on us too,” he said. “We’re really well known in the local area and get a lot of repeat customers, so once people started feeling comfortable coming into the dealership again, the demand was there. Being able to use my floor plan has really helped me keep my inventory levels up and I’ve been able to turn my inventory almost as quickly as I acquire it. I’ve also been able to purchase more popular vehicles like trucks, which are always in high demand with my customers.”
Even though Rood says his floor plan has been a huge contributor to his dealership’s success, he didn’t always feel that way and was afraid that it might come with too many strings. He was wary that it would be like having another partner and he’d feel tied down but said it’s been a very freeing feeling. “I have every single penny of my floor plan tied up in inventory and I’m able to keep my own capital to do with what I want,” he said. “I’ve also always had a wonderful experience with NextGear Capital. Everyone I’ve interacted with has provided me with exceptional customer service and my Portfolio Manager really understands the used car business and has been a huge asset to me. I really don’t think anyone will be disappointed with a NextGear Capital floor plan.”
In-Person Volunteering is Back!
NextGear Capital volunteers
NextGear Capital was able to start volunteering again in-person after over a year of volunteering virtually. One of the most recent events they participated in was in support of Gleaners Food Bank’s Mobile CARE event. Volunteers spent two hours loading vehicles with food items for families in need. “As we continue to ride the wave of uncertainty created by the pandemic, organizations like Gleaners are critical to ensuring that individuals and families receive the additional support they need to prevent them from going hungry,” said Associate Marketing Manager Natalia Wolting. “I’m glad I was able to participate in the CARE Mobile event not only so that I could give back to the local community but also spend time with some of my NextGear Capital team members in-person again,” she said.
