New-car sales have picked up nicely, lease returns are aplenty and franchised dealers are trading for more cars — all of which means more used supply entering the market and eventually giving independent dealers like Steve Matthews a boost in inventory.

But for a while, that wasn’t the case, as many independents struggled to find inventory.

“And now with the lease returns coming in and new-car dealers trading for more cars, you’re starting to see an influx of more used cars in the marketplace,” said Matthews, owner of Matthews Motors in Clayton, N.C.

Auto Remarketing and BHPH Report talked with a few independent dealers during a break at a NIADA Dealer 20 Group session in Raleigh, N.C. this week to get a sense of the market for independent dealers as we head into 2015.  

One of the dynamics for many independent dealers will be, as Matthews mentioned, more supply available.

Lease return figures are likely to be in the neighborhood of 2.5 million units in 2015, according to Manheim Consulting data cited in a November AutoTrader.com/Manheim certified pre-owned study.

And with some new-car dealers not able to take all their lease returns back, many will flow back into the independent dealer market, said Eric Freeman, co-owner of Freeman Motor Co. in Portland.

Granted, supply may still be tight among some dealers. Over at Wilmington Auto Center, dealer principal David Adkins said he has done more online buying than ever before and tried to secure pre-sale units before they hit the lanes, for example.

Turning to the finance side, one favorable sign Matthews has spotted has been more lenders starting opening their wallets further.

“There’s a lot of cash out there that is available, so going into 2015, I see a lot of opportunity in the independent car market,” said Matthews, whose store is located in the greater Raleigh area and focuses mainly on affordable cars 5 years old and newer with 75,000 miles or less

As for 2014, Matthews Motors has thrived through a combination of repeat-and-referral business coupled with pent-up demand from buyers waiting for the economy to improve a bit — “which it has,” he said.

“Aligned with pent-up demand and the fact that banks are being a little more lenient, it’s really opened up a good market out there,” Matthews said.

One challenge on the finance side noticed by Marshall Zoerner — the general manager of Freeman Motor Co. — is that many credit unions are becoming the “go-to place” for financing and with many customers coming to the store with a check in hand, that means the dealership is missing out on F&I opportunity.

So how do they combat that?

“A lot of it is training with our sales guys,” Zoerner said. One area Freeman Motor Co. hopes to focus on in early 2015 is training its sales staff to hone in on financing upfront and sharing what the dealership can offer, Zoerner added, particularly if the consumer has a good credit report and would be best-served to keep cash liquid and get a low interest rate.

Back at Wilmington Auto Center, Adkins said 2014 has been a “very good year for us,” and pointed to some of the best practices and techniques for improvement that he has picked up at the 20 Group.

“It’s amazing when you work at your business instead of in your business every day how much improvement you can make on a daily basis,” he said. “We give a lot of credit for that to our 20 Group here.”