Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia is a little over four years old, and the store’s team has had a focus on certified pre-owned sales since its opening. The work paid off:  the store is excelling at CPO. 

Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia sold 662 certified pre-owned Volvos in 2021, making the dealership the No. 1 CPO seller for Volvo in the country. In a difficult used-car market — and as the COVID-19 pandemic lingered — the store’s CPO sales continued to soar in Atlanta and surrounding markets. 

Jim Ellis is president and chief executive officer of the Jim Ellis Automotive Group, which owns the store. 

He told Auto Remarketing during a phone interview in the new year that, “Michael and Denton (Michael Gerbick, general manager; and Denton Gupton, used-car director) have done a fabulous job of getting us to this point that for four years in a row we’re the No. 1 Volvo retailer of CPO vehicles in the nation. It’s a really great honor and a great achievement.”

Gerbick — who is general manager of the Buford, Ga., store, and stepped into the position just last year — said in the same interview that since opening, the question has been: “How do we grow the store, and where can we be niche?” 

“The CPO program was the one area that we saw as a niche area to take over with Volvo, as there weren’t a lot of dealers doing so,” Gerbick said. 

For the Georgia store, as well as the Jim Ellis Automotive group as a whole — which spans 19 rooftops and 17 brands — CPO vehicles have always been a focus. 

For example, Gerbick came over from Audi Atlanta, another Jim Ellis Auto Group store, which has ranked the top selling Audi store for CPO for the past nine years, according to the dealership group. 

Auto Remarketing also spoke with Denton Gupton, used-car director for Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia. Ellis described Gupton, who has been with the store since its opening, as “the wheel behind the process (CPO sales).” 

“So, how does one jumpstart store profitability when opening up a new point into a new market? A great way to achieve that is by putting not just new Volvos into the market, but certified pre-owned Volvos, as well,” Gupton said. 

Gupton pointed out that according to industry research, CPO customers tend to be more loyal to the store they buy from than other clients, and more likely to revisit the dealership in which they purchased for service work — and for their next vehicle. 

“CPO, just by nature, is a lower price point than new. So, that’s a great entry or gateway into our Volvo brand and into our own brand here at Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia,” Gupton said. “And we do find that many customers trade in their cars that they bought CPO after a few years for a new vehicle.” 

Showing off CPO rides 

The store’s team explained there are 45 parking spaces for CPO at the store location, and then adjacent to those spots, there are another 30 spots available for additional CPO vehicles. And new vehicles are easily accessible, as well, since the pair noted they often see cross-shopping between new and certified inventory. 

Gerbick said the setup “allows customers an easy way to physically walk the lot, because at the end of the day, sometimes feeling it (the vehicle) and touching it really drives that momentum and that energy for a customer.”

The store is fortunate to have the space to have all of its inventory in one spot, eliminating the need for storage lots. 

Finding quality used vehicles

As most dealers already know, quality used vehicles were in short supply in 2021, with price spikes to boot. 

Reflecting the shortage of quality used vehicles last year, KAR Global chief economist Tom Kontos looked at both November and December 2021 pricing trends for an installment of the Kontos Kommentary and found that wholesale prices closed the year nearly 50% higher than pre-pandemic readings. 

Gupton said for Volvo Car Malls of Georgia, “COVID had its supply shocks,” but the store still managed to stock it’s certified lots via the following outlets and more: 

— Volvo 360 private auction 
— Rental vehicles 
— Other dealers 
— Trade-ins
— Third-party marketplaces 

Due to the store’s age, it hasn’t seen a big lease turnover rate yet. 

“We don’t get a lot of lease returns at our store. Obviously being a newer point store, we haven’t had time to develop that large book of business,” Gupton said. “So, we’ve really had to think outside the box, whether it’s sourcing from customers, off of eBay or Craigslist, or even Facebook marketplace — and just trying to find all the Volvos that we can.”

Educating the customer

Many customers are still not familiar with what certified pre-owned really means, and educating these customers can help drive more CPO sales. 

The Georgia store uses marketing and education methods across the board, including paper, click advertising and SEO. 

“The biggest thing is the vision of our store really is ‘stock more, sell more.’ The more available options that we have advertised on our website, the more customers we attract to our store,” Gerbick said. 

The store also uses additional third-party advertising to “paint the picture” of CPO value. Gerbick thinks the best type of advertising approach is the “proof is in the pudding” angle. 

“I think the biggest thing is reconditioning the car to like-new condition, as well as conveying the future benefits that the customer will receive with it,” Gerbick said. 

Gupton added that Volvo corporate also does a fine job of assisting with marketing and advertising, making sure that the “clicks are going to the right place.” 

Reconditioning to like-new

Reconditioning is crucial for successful CPO departments. Gupton said the store has “rigid criteria” for certified pre-owned vehicles, and the process actually starts at the time of sourcing. 

“We run a CARFAX report, an AutoCheck report, and then we just have to be aware that there are things that won’t show up on either of those reports, or even on a condition report at the auction,” said Gupton. “So, we try to pick the best quality vehicle to acquire. And then once that vehicle arrives, we very carefully (170-point inspection) go over the vehicle before it even reaches service, and make sure that everything is as it was advertised at the auction.”

Many customers for Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia come from out of state, and it’s very important to the store that these traveling customers get the vehicle they expected, in the shape they expected, when they walk through the doors. 

“We found the old adage of ‘it’s cheaper to do it right the first time’ is accurate,” said Gupton. 

When the vehicle makes it onto the lot, the first step is creating a one- to two-minute walk-around video of the vehicle. Dealership personnel are looking for any potential damages that weren’t initially caught, as well as any potential damage in transit.

“We’ve got some fantastic technicians,” said Gupton. “I have my own internal team devoted only to internal cars. And we go above and beyond what Volvo requires us to do, because quality is my most important priority.”

Any issues found during the video walk around are plugged into a system, and a repair order is written up for the vehicle. 

Gerbick said, “The whole goal is to get the vehicles photographed and pictured online as soon as possible.”

Maximizing CPO strategies

Being successful in CPO requires some serious strategizing and total commitment to the brand’s certified program — and a love of the job and the brand you’re selling doesn’t hurt. 

“It’s about making sure our customers have their questions answered and that the customer is making as informed a decision as possible on why our certified Volvo is the right choice for them,” Gerbick said. 

According to Gupton, one can’t do this successfully if they don’t love what they do and really enjoy coming to work. 

“I love seeing how far the store has come over the last four-and-a-half years, and it’s just been a super rewarding path,” said Gupton. “I live and even breathe the Volvo auctions, and I’m on all the time. I’m bidding on my cars at 11:30 pm at night in bed, and my wife thinks I’m nuts, and that’s OK.”

Another strategy available to the dealership is capitalizing on the Jim Ellis Automotive Group name and solid reputation in the business. 

“I think the one thing that separates our store from any other store and from any other automotive group in the country is we are Jim Ellis (Automotive Group). The auto group just celebrated its 50th anniversary. And we are very family oriented. I couldn’t ask for anybody better to work for,” said Gerbick. 

This reputation allows the dealership to more easily procure customers from out of state and all around the country. 

Instead of just handing the customer the keys and rushing them out the door, the dealership wants to make sure the customer comes back — and that’s “the biggest key component of continuing success at our store,” said Gerbick. 

Another way to a happy customer is making sure the CPO vehicles are priced at fair market value. 

“We start our vehicles off at a fair price. We believe in being competitive; we don’t think that we’re absolutely untouchable … We’re selling Volvos, not diamonds. We just have to keep in mind that it’s extremely important to stay competitive in this white-hot used-vehicle marketplace,” Gupton said. 

Online sales and virtual delivery

As digital buying for vehicles becomes more and more commonplace with companies like Carvana and more, many dealerships are beginning to offer online sales and virtual delivery options to remain competitive.

Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia utilizes the Jim Ellis Express Way, which enables customers to shop, buy and trade vehicles on their schedule, and eliminates the inconveniences often associated with a vehicle purchase in-store. 

“The Jim Ellis Expressway is really trying to say, ‘look, you can shop for your vehicle at home, and we’re going to bring everything right to you,” said Gerbick. 
The store was already prepared and “ahead of the game” to make virtual deliveries when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and contactless purchasing and delivery became a must for many. 

 “Jimmy (Jim Ellis, head of the Jim Ellis Automotive Group) is big on really pushing us to present any flexible option to our customers, giving them all the ways they want to buy,” said Gerbick. 

Tracie Maloney, VP at Jim Ellis Automotive Group, said, “Even in some of the surrounding states, now people have confidence to buy a used car from their couch from us. They’re not afraid of that. So that makes the certified pre-owned program really valuable, because you can trust what you’re buying, based on the rigid reconditioning process and added benefits of CPO from the name you’re buying it from, and it can show up at your door.”

‘A vehicle for everyone’

As for what CPO vehicles sell best at the dealership, Gupton said Volvo’s “core products” are always hot sellers — for example, the XC SUV line. 

“So of course, we have that base,” Gupton said. 

“One thing that I kind of live by is you can only sell so many of one model, even our most popular cars,” said Gupton. “So at some point you have to diversify into the model lines that are less common. 

For example, the store has had tremendous success with the Volvo S90 sedan. 

And one can’t forget the wagon — a model type Volvo is historically known for — that Gupton described as a “very niche market.” 

Girbeck said that CPO sales for Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia were down a bit in January, but the dealership still finished the month as the top CPO seller in the country for Volvo. 

“It’s going to be a race this year,” said Gerbick. “And we have a strong focus on it (CPO).” 

The CPO market as a whole also started the year with a decline. A recent Data Point report from Cox Automotive, showed certified sales were down close to 17% year-over-year in January and were at their lowest level since April 2020, during the initial onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although Volvo was slightly down in volume on its Volvo 360 private auction platform as well at the start of the year, Gerbick said he’s expecting volume to pick up as Q1 progresses. 

And Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia will be appealing to CPO customers in 2022 by focusing on the brand’s “core models,” including the XC 40, XC 60 and XC 90. 

Gerbick said what separates the store is its quest to make sure to stock a ride for every customer; it’s all about making sure a good mix of inventory is stocked. 

“We’re continuing to reach out to our return customers. We’re continuing to work our service drive — and continue to build value everywhere we can,” said Gerbick.