CarGurus announced the latest locations to its phased national rollout of CarGurus Instant Max Cash Offer on Thursday.
States where consumers looking to trade in their vehicles for what CarGurus strives to make the best possible offer and hassle-free experience now includes New York, Maryland and Minnesota.
Launched in late July, CarGurus Instant Max Cash Offer is based on the synergies of the CarOffer-CarGurus partnership. Leveraging CarGurus’ online marketplace of approximately 29 million unique monthly vehicle shoppers in the U.S. with CarOffer’s buying matrix network of thousands of dealers across the country, CarGurus Instant Max Cash Offer is designed to bring consumers and dealers together as no other platform can do.
The solution can give dealers access to much-needed inventory supply, and consumers looking to sell their car receive the highest buy order instantly from thousands of dealers throughout the U.S. In addition, the companies’ expertise in auto retail ensures the experience extends with a white-glove pickup and payment service. For more information on how it works, visit here.
“We are thrilled with the early success of CarGurus Instant Max Cash Offer and we’re only halfway through our rollout across the U.S.,” said Sam Zales, president and chief operating officer at CarGurus. “We are delivering a solution that simply hasn’t been done before — one that benefits dealers faced with a scarcity of inventory, and one that meets the demands of consumers for convenience, transparency, simplicity and a premium buy offer.
“Our rollout of CarGurus Instant Max Cash Offer is being done in a thoughtful, deliberately staggered way to ensure seamless scalability and reliability for everyone involved,” Zales continued in a news release. “The response so far has been outstanding and we are only at the tip of the spear in realizing the potential of our reach and capabilities.”
Aaron Sanchez is general manager of Principle Auto, BMW of Corpus Christi and described through the news release how the tool helped his Texas store find inventory.
“The struggle to find quality, retail-ready inventory is a real issue for the industry, and the CarGurus-CarOffer consumer-to-dealer approach is a huge win for us,” Sanchez said.
“Once we adapted to the automation of the buy orders, we were able to see inventory flow effortlessly. Plus, buying directly from consumers in our market and elsewhere keeps us close to the car buyer and seller for future opportunity in sales and service.”
As of Sept. 30, CarGurus said there were approximately 7,000 dealer rooftops enrolled on the CarOffer Buying Matrix platform and it’s consistently growing.
“The vast dealer-to-dealer network breaks away from traditional methods of sourcing inventory and allows for automated buying and selling opportunities that extend well beyond the standard 500-mile trading radius to markets across the country,” CarGurus said, which also shared the experiences of a consumer who sold a vehicle.
“The offer was better than any offer I was getting from dealerships or people in general and it was just an offer I couldn’t turn down. It was a smooth and easy process for me to go through to get the car sold. I would definitely recommend CarGurus to friends and family,” said Daylan from Texas.
Dealers interested in learning more about this program can contact their CarGurus sales representative.
For the latest information on and availability of CarGurus Instant Max Cash Offer, visit CarGurus.com.
Finding a used vehicle that’s ripe for healthy gross and a satisfied dealership customer is as challenging as ever, especially given the current landscape of wholesale prices and supply.
So, Cox Automotive strengthened one of its crucial tools dealerships can use to build their inventories without having to depend on the wholesale market completely.
The company launched optimizations for Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer to boost the consumer matching process with additional filters to help dealerships tackle today’s inventory challenges.
Officials explained the latest Instant Cash Offer enhancements leverage data and insights across the Cox Automotive ecosystem to route prospective customers more precisely. They’re designed to enrich offer quality for dealerships looking to acquire more of the vehicle they need for their lots to maximize profits while continuing to improve the Instant Cash Offer experience for consumers with a redeemable cash offer that allows customers ready to sell their vehicle to drive away with confidence.
“The enhancements we’ve delivered in consumer matching, coupled with our recent product innovations are all designed to improve the consumer experience, provide an even more targeted approach to consumer offers and help dealers make the most of every acquisition opportunity,” said Randy Kobat, vice president of operations for inventory management solutions at Cox Automotive.
“These enhancements are also helping drive higher transaction rates for Instant Cash Offer dealerships, so they can acquire more cars,” Kobat continued in a news release.
The latest product innovations are meant to streamline the process in three ways:
• Closing the distance gap to help close more deals: Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer has shortened the physical distance between dealerships and interested prospects by 30%, providing a competitive advantage over other dealerships and delivering a more convenient process for consumers.
• Attracting more vehicles: Advanced replacement vehicle matching not only pairs dealerships with consumers that have the vehicles dealerships want but also with those shopping for vehicles the dealerships already have, increasing the Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer transaction rate by 21%.
• Intelligence to identify transaction-ready opportunities: Additional consumer insights from across Cox Automotive data sources let dealers know which consumers are ready to transact to increase operational efficiency when acquiring the vehicles needed most. Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offers with Buying Signals have a transaction completion rate 19% better than those without Buying Signals, while consumers using Kelley Blue Book Appointment Requests are twice as likely to transact at an Instant Cash Offer dealership than those without an appointment request.
Cox Automotive said consumers can receive an offer even faster, which can directly impact consumer satisfaction and increase offer volume for the dealership.
The company went on to say that additional product features such the ability for consumers to upload up to six images of their vehicle, scan their vehicle’s VIN to reduce errors, request an appointment directly from the offer certificate, and provide condition information without requiring the customer or vehicle to be at the dealerships are investments in a better consumer experience.
Kelley Blue Book also simplified Instant Cash Offer packages for both new and existing customers with two selections:
• Expert Appraisal: Source inventory from anywhere in the dealership (showroom, service lanes, the dealership website), plus provides a myriad of support services including 90-day staff implementation and training support, full dealer admin tool functionality, liquidation of dealer inventory, Google Analytics, performance management, the ability for consumers to upload photos, Instant Cash Offer Buying Signals on offers submitted through dealer’s website and the option for consumers to make an appointment request.
• Buying center: Cox Automotive said this is the complete package for dealerships wanting to maximize inventory acquisition opportunities within their dealership, as well as connect with consumers ready to sell their current vehicle on trusted Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader sites.
Buying Center includes all the features of the Expert Appraisal package, plus the option to purchase Instant Cash Offer Buying Signals for offers submitted through Autotrader and KBB.com for optimal routing and acquisition efficiency.
To learn more about Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, visit http://b2b.kbb.com/ICO.
With inspection experts already cautioning dealers because of inventory being so difficult to get, CARFAX shared even more data about how many vehicles potentially have been damaged in the wake of Hurricane Ida and other intense storms across the United States in recent weeks.
CARFAX said on Thursday that widespread flooding from Hurricane Ida — centered around New York City, New Jersey and Louisiana — potentially damaged as many as 212,000 vehicles.
The vehicle history report company pointed out that amount is on top of 378,000 flood-damaged cars that CARFAX data shows were already on the road in 2021.
CARFAX indicated Texas continues to lead the nation in the number of flood-damaged vehicle on the road today, but its data also showed water-damaged vehicles appear even in states where flooding isn’t common.
While flood-damaged vehicles are in use in every state, CARFAX data noted that these 10 states have the most:
1. Texas: 66,500
2. Florida: 34,000
3. Kentucky: 23,800
4. Pennsylvania: 19,000
5. North Carolina: 15,300
6. California: 14,000
7. Illinois: 13,500
8. South Carolina: 11,400
9. New Jersey: 11,200
10. Michigan: 10,400
“Our data suggests that unsuspecting buyers everywhere are at risk of winding up with a previously flooded car,”, CARFAX spokesperson Chris Basso said in a news release. “The real danger is that these cars may look fine and run well for a while, but sooner rather than later major problems are likely to occur.
“Flooded cars literally rot from the inside out and the damage is often difficult for untrained eyes to detect. Together with our dealers, CARFAX is making the necessary resources available to help ensure consumers avoid unknowingly buying one of these waterlogged wrecks,” Basso continued.
Similar to what the team at AiM Mobile Inspections shared, CARFAX offered these seven “telltale signs” of a flooded vehicle, including:
— A musty odor in the interior, which sellers sometimes try to cover with a strong air-freshener
— Loose, stained, or mismatched upholstery and carpeting
— Damp carpets
— Rust around doors, under the dashboard, on the pedals, or inside the hood and trunk latches
— Dried mud or silt in the glove compartment or under the seats
— Brittle wires under the dashboard
— Fog or moisture beads in the interior lights, exterior lights, or instrument panel
Vehicle Acquisition Network, a private-party acquisition service provider for dealerships, said its new system integration with vAuto streamlines dealer inventory management with insight into vehicle demand and alternate sourcing opportunities.
The streamlining helps dealers appraise cars competitively and acquire vehicles quickly, according to Vehicle Acquisition Network.
The company said the strong increase in used-car sales over the past 18 months brings a profit opportunity for auto dealers during a time of shrinking inventory and margins in new-car sales.
But many dealerships that lack an alternate inventory sourcing channel are missing an opportunity with private sellers in their market, Vehicle Acquisition Network said.
The integration could bring an easy transition of appraisal and valuation information with a direct connection to exchange private seller vehicles and vAuto tools without duplicate entry, according to the company.
vAuto with Intelligent Promotion expands upon vAuto’s inventory management capabilities with all-new functionalities.
The service will launch at the Cox Automotive Experience and NADA Show 2021. vAuto is a Cox Automotive brand.
Using vAuto with Intelligent Promotion, dealerships gain insights and tools to create differentiated merchandising and automatically apply it to the right inventory.
One of those tools is bulk campaigns that can make applying content to multiple vehicles easier.
Integrating within vAuto Conquest and Provision, Intelligent Promotion helps automate the merchandising of the most marketable attributes of each vehicle.
Dealerships can use vAuto live market insights and the Intelligent Promotion tools to create merchandising campaigns for specific groups of vehicles and automatically apply the content as vehicles arrive in their inventory.
That creates more consumer engagement where vAuto says the shopping experience begins: online.
vAuto with Intelligent Promotion upends what it says is a long-held assumption that because of their uniformity, new cars would not equally benefit from the robust and descriptive merchandising that belays used cars' pricing stability.
The company said that because of recent market dynamics and changes in consumer shopping behaviors, dealerships have had to rethink traditional approaches to running their business. They have also had to rethink traditional approaches to marketing new cars.
vAuto said dealerships have historically applied consistent inventory management practices across their entire portfolio of inventory.
That includes vehicle merchandising where dealers often emphasize a process that creates a standardized digital presence. That could cause them to miss the opportunity to highlight important information, such as lease specials or dealer services, that can help them capture market share.
vAuto said it now provides the insights and tools for more efficient identification of local trends and development of enhanced merchandising that tailors the content to the market trends.
Armed with a better understanding of the local market, dealers can use vAuto with Intelligent Promotion to formulate a data-driven pricing and merchandising strategy.
The company said that improves the appeal of new and used inventory. It also increases overall sales performance.
vAuto with Intelligent Promotion provides dealerships with the insights and tools to create differentiated merchandising and automatically apply it to the right inventory.
Regarding bulk campaigns that help apply content to multiple vehicles, inventory filters create rules, so campaigns are applied to the right inventory and Smart Fields automatically insert VIN-specific information without editing each listing.
Modern creative tools provide flexibility for augmenting VDP image carousels with more information using virtual billboards and image overlays.
Another tool is 360-degree media spins to engage shoppers with interactive visuals. SnapLot 360 is now integrated with vAuto Conquest and Provision. It provides a new method of merchandising inventory without the need for another inventory management platform.
Cox Automotive vice president of inventory management solutions Randy Kobat said trends for years pointed to merchandising being a “check the box” requirement.
“Successful dealerships are adjusting their marketing and merchandising strategy to focus on quality, not just quantity of work done,” Kobat said in a news release.
Kobat also said, “By combining vAuto’s industry-leading market data to power Intelligent Promotion, while also integrating SnapLot 360’s stunning visualizations, vAuto clients can easily and effectively create compelling inventory listings and engage a wider audience with transparency and confidence.”
For Ford and Lincoln dealers that don’t already capture enough off-lease turn-ins to meet their inventory requirements, Ford Credit’s dealer-direct purchasing site, Accelerate, is now integrated with vAuto’s Stockwave used vehicle platform.
In an effort to save time and energy, vAuto explained in Thursday’s announcement that the new integration can help eliminate the guesswork of what will sell and for how much for Ford and Lincoln dealerships through real-time local market data and pricing insights.
That intelligence is designed to match upstream off-lease inventory to the right market faster, according to vAuto.
“As new-vehicle inventory remains tight in today’s environment, a strong and efficient used-car operation grounded in data has become a key pillar of success for OEMs and their dealer bases,” said Patrick Janes, business development director for vAuto’s Stockwave.
“By integrating Ford Accelerate and Stockwave, dealerships can let the local market data drive their purchase decisions to help ensure that when they bring an off-lease vehicle to the lot, it will always make a profit,” Janes continued in a news release.
In addition to automatically factoring in aspects of vAuto’s Live Market View for more informed, investment-minded decisions, the company highlighted the integration can provide Ford and Lincoln dealerships with personalized buying and stocking level recommendations based on their sales velocity and target days’ supply.
According to vAuto, this functionality can allow store managers to communicate more seamlessly with their OEM to analyze and buy inventory more effectively and efficiently.
Mark Rodgers, general sales manager for Koons Ford in Baltimore, offered his assessment about what the integration could do in that vAuto news release.
“Today’s car shoppers are very clear about their vehicle preferences so we can’t afford to fly blind when it comes to stocking decisions,” Rodgers said. “Having vAuto Stockwave’s insights and recommendations directly inside Ford Accelerate puts our finger right on the pulse of local market demand as we manage inventory.”
For more information on Stockwave, visit www.vauto.com/products/stockwave/.
General Motors dealerships using DealerSocket’s Inventory+ inventory management software can now syndicate inventory to GM-participating website providers and programs. That includes the automaker's Shop-Click-Drive e-commerce tool.
Auto industry SaaS provider DealerSocket said Monday that its Inventory+ software is now participating in General Motors’ Dealer Vehicle Inventory Management program, or DVIM.
DealerSocket said the DVIM program improves the consumer experience at GM-branded shopping sites. Brad Kokesh, general manager of DealerSocket’s Inventory+ line, said that with Inventory+ participating in the program, dealers can now use more digital retailing services “to meet customers where and how they want to shop.”
“With so much uncertainty in the current market, it’s critical for dealers to have access to more marketing channels while utilizing Inventory+ to identify and source true profit drivers,” Kokesh said in a news release.
GM dealers using Inventory+ can automate processes and gain access to the latest vehicle costs, options, and suggested sales prices. A data-driven approach to inventory management means every lot unit has a chance to sell at a profit, DealerSocket said.
That establishes what the company describes as an “ideal inventory model” for every dealership.
Cox Automotive continues to leverage the pieces of its service portfolio to benefit dealerships and other industry segments.
The latest example involves Manheim and vAuto with the goal of helping dealers reduce depreciation risk and drive greater inventory profitability.
The company recently highlighted that new functionality in vAuto’s Provision can enable clients to request a Manheim Express Concierge specialist, so they can more quickly and effortlessly get their inventory listed right from their lots.
Also, the company mentioned vAuto’s Stocking Grade and Strategy Action now will appear within the Manheim.com recommended vehicles carousel; designed to enable dealers to see at a glance how suggested vehicles work with their current business plans.
“Dealers have told us that they want a tighter connection between vAuto and Manheim, and these two integrations are great examples of how we’re acting on that feedback and helping dealers better manage their inventory,” said Zach Hallowell, vice president of Manheim Digital.
“vAuto and Manheim offer powerful inventory management tools and bringing them closer together delivers on the promise of Cox Automotive for our clients,” Hallowell continued in a news release.
Since March 1, Cox Automotive indicated more than 120,000 used trade-ins from vAuto’s Provision have been listed in the Manheim marketplace. Now, with the ability to request a Manheim Express Concierge specialist right from the Provision platform, dealers can more quickly have their inventory listed by a Manheim specialist while staying focused on other critical aspects of their businesses.
On the Provision Gauge Page, clients can now click to request a Manheim Express Concierge specialist. The company said The concierge team will promptly follow up and schedule a time for a trained specialist to visit the dealership, conduct thorough vehicle inspections and list vehicles using the advanced listing tools in Manheim Express.
In addition to the typical Manheim Express capture features, including exterior 360s of the vehicle, engine audio/video clips and detailed condition information, Cox Automotive mentioned that listings conducted by a concierge specialist offer the bonuses of having an inspection grade, OBD2 readings, undercarriage video and interior 360 imaging.
Plus, the company pointed out that concierge specialists also can serve as advisors, consulting on a dealer’s overall remarketing strategy and recommending vehicle values.
This integration comes on the heels of the first touchpoint between Manheim Express and Provision, announced in 2019, which enabled dealers to more quickly send a vehicle to Manheim Express from the Provision app.
Cox Automotive acknowledged that stocking the right inventory is key to used vehicle profitability, and vAuto Stockwave and Provision are designed to gather insights to make critical inventory acquisition decisions.
Now, clients who use those platforms will see their business plans incorporated into the existing vehicle recommendations on Manheim.com, with the overlay of the vAuto Stocking Grade and Strategy Action appearing in the recommendations carousel.
Vehicle recommendations, launched earlier this year within the new Manheim.com, are based on dealer’s one-of-a-kind search and purchase history. These personalized suggestions are driven by M LOGIC technology, a suite of advanced decisioning products from Manheim.
Cox Automotive reiterated that having vAuto data available on Manheim.com recommended vehicles helps dealers make faster, more informed decisions. The data is refreshed twice per day, so clients always have the latest information at their fingertips.
“vAuto has long been focused on giving our clients the live market insights they need to make more profitable decisions when buying and selling inventory,” said Randy Kobat, vice president of inventory management solutions at Cox Automotive.
“With these two new touchpoints between vAuto and Manheim, we are making it easier for clients to turn insights into actions that will keep their businesses moving forward,” Kobat went on to say.
Clients interested in learning more can visit vAuto.com, Manheim.com, or reach out to their respective reps or performance managers.
Potential buyers sometimes can quickly sour on a vehicle in your inventory if it has an unresolved recall.
To help used-car managers track recalls, AutoMap has integrated AutoAp’s comprehensive safety recall management technology into its solution, helping dealers reduce safety recall liability and increase warranty reimbursement revenue in addition to their automated vehicle electronic-tagging, location and flooring audit services.
While obtaining vehicle location status is designed to be simple with AutoMap, chief executive officer Mark Sargeant acknowledged that gaining insight to safety recall status has been time-consuming and error-prone. That’s why AutoMap leveraged its relationship with AutoAp.
“After reviewing potential sources of safety recall information, we found that AutoAp provides the highest-quality safety recall information available in the industry,” Sargeant said in a news release.
“AutoMap selected AutoAp based on our strict requirements and standards to provide dealerships the most accurate and timely safety recall technology available,” he continued.
Under license from AutoAp, AutoMap’s solution can provide dealerships an accurate and on-demand way to know the safety recall status of vehicles in their inventory. Dealers can check vehicles from within AutoMap to learn their safety recall status.
As a result, dealers can make even better vehicle purchasing decisions by knowing the accurate safety recall status of vehicles and get them repaired sooner.
Safety recalls are being issued in record numbers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As a result of these historically-high numbers, AutoMap pointed out franchised dealers have increased liability risk as vehicle safety recalls have gained significant media attention.
Although manufacturers and their suppliers are the source of vehicle defects, AutoMap stressed that dealers are being held liable for selling vehicles with open safety recalls, which may be one of the most significant legal exposures that a dealership has today.
“Dealers can find safety recalls earlier, which helps increase compliance, make their process more efficient and increases profitability,” Sargeant said. “We are pleased to have partnered with AutoAp. their CEO literally wrote the book on this topic.”
AutoAp cautioned that dealers who use SaferCar.gov to verify the safety recall status of off-brand vehicles can put themselves at risk from missed recalls “false negatives” from NHTSA’s site.
AutoAp also stressed that vehicle history reports can sometimes have errors, and timing delays from the OEMs and NHTSA, with often-inconsistent recall status, can further increase dealers’ liability and reduces consumer safety.
“Dealerships find it difficult to stay on top of safety recalls, due to the size and complexity of the problem. Worse, they think they’re ‘covered’ with current systems,” AutoAp chief executive officer Mark Paul said in the news release.
“Our proprietary processes generate the most-accurate, multi-sourced safety recall status available anywhere,” Paul continued. “We are excited to partner with AutoMap so that we can reach more dealers even faster to help address this significant problem”
AutoAp’s safety recall management technology can also be purchased as standalone dealer solutions to generate revenue and decrease liability for vehicle acquisition as well as for sold-customer recall service or as integrated into third-party dealer service providers like AutoMap.
For more details, go to www.automap.us or www.autoap.com.
Spireon’s latest tool that the company says is the first connected car solution truly designed for franchise dealers is set to roll out this month.
Leveraging the strategic integrations with Cox Automotive’s HomeNet and Dealertrack DMS as well as CDK Global, and Reynolds and Reynolds, Spireon highlighted the six primary capabilities of Kahu Connect, which is designed to offer dealerships the visibility needed for retail inventory management, a new dashboard for ease of access to actionable data and the ability to track down specific inventory for customers.
With the integrated solution, dealers can now visualize and report on the current status of their entire inventory, not just the connected cars on the lot with the Kahu solution. This capability can give dealers deeper insight into inventory location, protection and usage as well as expedites customer sales.
“With dealerships facing increasing pressure to deliver top-notch service to buyers, it’s critical that they are buttoned up on backend operations,” said Brian Skutta, president of automotive at Spireon.
“We’ve created a holistic solution that allows dealers to seamlessly integrate Kahu into the operational DNA of the dealership, leading to lot health and a shorter, streamlined customer buying experience, which in turn, increases sales,” Skutta continued in a news release.
Kahu Connect can provide dealerships with stronger tools to optimize lot health and operational efficiency. Key benefits of the solution include:
• Automated Activation and Deactivation: Utilizing the DMS sales feeds, Kahu automatically can process activation into consumer accounts or deactivates devices without requiring staff to spend time with manual processing
• True Retail Inventory Visibility: Automatically can adjust reports and dashboards to help visualize how dealership management systems (DMS) data feeds and active retail changes impact a dealer's inventory landscape
• New Inventory Management Dashboard: Can deliver real-time data on a dealership’s retail makeup and problem areas, as well as highlights the most urgent and actionable data that dealerships need at their fingertips
• Increases the Ability to Connect the Right Vehicle to the Right Customer Quickly: richer vehicle information automatically can be populated and searchable within the Kahu app and online including interior/external color, stock number, trim and body style
• Inventory Classification: Can allows dealers to segment and view inventory by type including new, used, loaners, parts and shuttles
• Improved VIN Decoding: Key data integration with HomeNet Automotive can allow Kahu to utilize additional data sources as backup for VIN decoding
With visibility into both Kahu connected vehicles and those not yet paired with a device, dealerships are able to ensure all vehicles are accounted for and protected against theft. Spireon shared the experience of an Arizona dealer.
“Kahu Connect promises to be a game-changer for us, in terms of our ability to clearly see the status of our entire lot,” said Shalee Bleecker, controller at Arrowhead BMW in Glendale, Ariz. “While other lot management service providers tout inventory management as a feature, it doesn’t apply to all of the vehicles in our queue, giving our team only half of the picture.
“Spireon has taken the much-needed steps to build an all-encompassing tool that not only gives us the confidence on our backend operations but also empowers our team to provide the best car shopping experience for our customers,” Bleecker continued in the news release.
Kahu Connect will be generally available starting this month, according to the company.
To learn more about Kahu, visit www.spireon.com/kahu. Kahu is only available through automotive dealerships. Dealers interested in selling Kahu can inquire at this website.
