NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. -

When asked how Hyundai of New Port Richey has managed to lead the pack for certified pre-owned sales, store owner Scott Fink boils it down to two key factors.

First, he said, the dealership’s strong new-car sales enables it to take in more trades. And Fink said the store targets late-model Hyundai vehicles.

“We’re forever churning out on the service drive, seizing opportunities to take people out of cars — maybe if they’re in three-year leases, we’re taking them out in a year-and-a-half,” said Fink, president and chief executive officer of Hyundai of New Port Richey — Auto Remarketing’s 2014 CPO Dealer of the Year, presented by NCM Associates.

“So, we have an enormous number of very desirable, very sellable couple-of-year-old Hyundais,” he added.

The second factor driving this success, Fink says, is the fact that the dealership has a stand-alone Hyundai CPO sales center. The facility is located about half-a-mile from the main dealership center and had been a large Lincoln-Mercury dealership years ago.

Now, Fink and his team use the stand-alone center to sell certified pre-owned vehicles and other used cars, while also housing 27 service bays.  Hyundai of New Port Richey still stocks some certified vehicles at its main location, but the store refers most CPO customers to the stand-alone store.

“I think being able to expand on our brand in the market, with that location, has been key,” Fink said.

Having an off-site certified pre-owned sales center certainly has its benefits and challenges — and Fink elaborated more on those.

“For me, the big advantage of having the separate lot was that I just not did have the physical plant here to even get in the game,” he said. “If you would look back at our sales in CPO, let’s say, over the last five or eight years, there were months that we didn’t sell any used cars or we would trip on two cars, because we had to wholesale the cars so quickly because we have no physical capacity here.

“So, the off-site location enabled us to get rid of the cars on the main location and put them up the street, and now we could actively market them to the consumer. That was a very, very big deal,” Fink continued.

The challenge, he said, is that senior management cannot be on the premises 100 percent of the time.

“Do we wish it could be on the same campus; that our top senior management can more actively control and manage the business? We would like that,” Fink said. “We think our team there does a great job. Could we be even better? The answer is yes.”

Sales Roll In; The Challenge is to Keep Pace

Last year, the dealership sold 1,357 certified pre-owned vehicles, which was the most for any Hyundai dealership in the nation. It was also more than 500 units stronger than any other Hyundai store.

Through three quarters, Hyundai of New Port Richey has moved 1,169 CPO vehicles, which the automaker said is a 19.2-percent year-over-year increase.

Hyundai’s CPO leadership also said the store is the automaker’s top-ranked CPO seller through three quarters of the year by nearly 500 units. It is expected that Hyundai of New Port Richey will yet again finish the year atop Hyundai’s CPO sales chart.

Comparing the two years, Fink said the dealership had a soft start to 2013, but finished the year strong. This year, the beginning was strong and sales had been static year-over-year from June through September.

Fink said year-to-date sales through September are up from where they were in 2013, but acknowledged that keeping pace with the last few months of 2013 is a big challenge.

“And I think a lot of that is the fact that even at my other store, CPO sales have doubled,” he said. “More and more dealers are in the game, which is good. We like to think we were somewhat of pioneers, and we’ve helped Hyundai and maybe even other brands recognize that you can be a successful new-car dealer and a CPO dealer without hurting your new-car business.”

Challenges for CPO Dealers

Fink said his store has been fortunate when it comes to inventory, but emphasized that the average CPO dealer is still experiencing challenges when it comes to generating the sellable inventory.

“You’re out on your service drive, you’re trying to buy customers out of deals. You might be giving away that new car to buy that transaction so you have that sellable used car,” he said.

Competition is also fierce these days — and it’s not just within the Hyundai network. Every brand, he said, “is in on the game.”

Additionally, the pricing model on the Internet poses challenges for dealers in the CPO market.

“That’s where our traffic and our business is coming from,” Fink said. “And being able to have processes and people in place in your organization to actively manage that to ensure that you’re getting the right look.”

Hyundai’s Success in CPO Market

Hyundai has realized some rapid growth in certified pre-owned sales, having moved 71,253 CPO units through nine months of 2014. That’s a 24.2-percent improvement; comparatively, the industry as a whole is up 9.9 percent as it heads towards another best-ever year.

What’s more, the company just recorded its best September for CPO sales. This immediately followed what was Hyundai strongest single month ever for CPO (August or otherwise).

“I feel the biggest issue is dealer focus.  I think the company has done a good job of keeping it in front of dealers, reminding them of the profit opportunity,” Fink said of Hyundai. “I also think that not only myself, but Jim Ellis up in Georgia and some key dealers from around the country who are in on the game, I think they showed other dealers that, ‘Hey you know what? Here are some of the bigger dealers in the nation that are drinking out of both faucets, and you’re missing a huge profit opportunity.’

“So, I’ll give credit to the manufacturer for getting it in front of dealers, and I’ll give credit to the dealers for recognizing that, ‘Hey, this is a good opportunity. I’m going to get on it,’” he added.

And in less than three weeks, Hyundai of New Port Richey will be honored for its certified pre-owned accomplishments at Used Car Week. 

Troy Morgan, who is the service manager of the dealership’s stand-alone CPO sales center, will accept the award on site during a CPO Forum general session that begins at 4 p.m. PST on Nov. 10.

 He will be joined by Jose Froelich, who is Hyundai’s senior manager of certified pre-owned, and Paul Stowe, director of retail operations for NCM Associates.

Then at 10:30 a.m. PST on Nov. 11, Morgan will join a panel discussion on the “Top 10 Things You Can Do Now to Improve Your Store and Create a CPO Sales Champion.”

Also on that panel are:

  • Will Amiri, Longo Toyota
  • Rod Rowley, Larry H. Miller Group
  • Kraig Quisenberry, DCH/Lithia Motors
  • Moderator: Kathi Kruse of Kruse Control Inc.

Editor’s Note: In addition to Hyundai of New Port Richey and the Hyundai of New Port Richey Certified Used Car Center, Fink’s dealerships also include Hyundai of Wesley Chapel, Mazda of Wesley Chapel and Chevrolet of Wesley Chapel.