DALLAS -

RedBumper has announced that it will be launching a new-car inventory management system at the National Automobile Dealers Association Convention in New Orleans.

New Car IQ  is designed to offer both individual dealers and dealer groups a comprehensive set of inventory management analysts for the new-car side of the business, and serve as an as an enterprise-reporting dashboard, the company said.

“We’ve known for a long time that there has been a real need for a new-car inventory management system”, said Bruce Thompson, RedBumper’s chief executive officer and founder, in the company’s statement announcing the product. “New Car IQ will give dealers what they have been waiting for, a truly game changing and encompassing solution that allows a dealer to master every element of their new-car inventory.”

In light of this development, RedBumper also provided Auto Remarketing with a few additional thoughts on the new-car inventory management environment from Thompson, whose experience in the used-vehicle management space dates back to his launching of the American Auto Exchange in 2001.

He later sold AAX in 2004, and six years later, launched RedBumper, which would partner with ADP in 2012. 

“There is simply no reason for this vital component of a dealer’s operations to be ignored for innovation for this long. We’ve had used-car inventory management systems in our industry since 2001,” Thompson said in the statement provided to Auto Remarketing.   “A dozen years have passed, and still dealers are forced to manually manage new-car inventory operations.

“We need tools that help identify which vehicle packages and colors perform the best. We need stocking tools to manage ordering and allocations; and we need tools that provide leverage in pushing back and negotiating with the OEMs.  We need to understand days supply in our markets and how our competitors are pricing their new inventory,” he continued.

“Used-car operations have been totally transformed since 2001.  Now is the time for innovation in the new-car space.  The market is for the taking for the company that is the first to market with a comprehensive tool. “ 

So what will this new tool offer?

Sherif Jitan, chief information officer of the new venture, explained in detail the features in greater detail.

“New Car IQ tools will identify dealer’s current days supply, turn time, units on the ground vs. in-transit, OEM incentives, along with floor plan expense and F&I cycle times; while also indicating performance by color, trim, vehicle packages, profits, profit per day and real-time forecast to target,” Jitan said.

“It will also incorporate seasonality and vehicle lead time when making unique stocking recommendations for the dealership or the dealer group. The user may drill down and compare manufacturer-to-manufacturer, dealer-to-dealer, and region-to-region.  Trading tools will allow a dealer group to efficiently transfer new units and optimize stocking levels across the country.” 

One such dealer group that offered a bit of feedback in RedBumper’s announcement was Bergstrom Automotive Group.

Chief operating officer Tim Bergstrom had this to say: “We’ve seen a peek at the new tools, and we are very excited for them to hit the market. The industry has waited long enough for a new-car inventory system, and from what we’ve seen this system will change the way dealers manage and market their new vehicles.”

Additionally, there is an auto-pricing solution where dealers can incorporate OEM incentives into their own online new-car listings, the company said.

“It literally takes the guesswork out of new-car pricing and helps dealers optimize profitability.  With direct integration into a proprietary tool called SmartPrice, dealers will have complete control of pricing by accounting for manufacturer/customer incentives, color adjustment, region-specific adjustment, market activity, destination fees and more, all in real-time so that the dealer is spot-on with their retail pricing every step of the way", said Mark Bland, COO of Pearl Technology Holdings.

The company is unveiling the product publicly at its NADA Convention booth (No. 2461). At the time of the announcement, a small contingent of dealers and dealer groups were piloting New Car IQ in its beta phase.

“While this is an important step forward for the automotive industry, we still feel that there is a lot more room for innovation and we will be introducing some groundbreaking new tools in 2014 for both dealers and their consumers,” said Thompson in the product announcement.

In the supplementary comments, he would go on to add this: “Your decisions when it comes to ordering from the OEM will no longer come down to the ‘golden gut,’ but rather real-time analytics and key performance metrics providing a solid foundation to your reasoning.”

Dealers can learn more at www.newcariq.com.

 

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.