Improvement helps dealers to quickly make confident, informed decisions on every inbound trade

Oakbrook Terrace, IL. – vAuto announced an insights-driven upgrade to dealer trading in the Conquest^® platform, building on the long legacy of market leading metrics for inventory management developed by vAuto.

The enhanced dealer trade functionality seamlessly integrates, at no additional cost, into Conquest. Using third-party data, Conquest’s Dealer Trade creates an efficient trade process that identifies which competitors’ vehicles would perform best in their respective markets, resulting in faster-turning inventory. In today’s margin-compressed environment, every piece of inventory must be evaluated on its potential marketability and profitability. Obtaining a clear, objective assessment on inbound trades was difficult and time-consuming until now.

“We know new car managers today have a lot on their plates. So, when a dealer receives an inbound request for a trade, they need to be sure they’re getting the right car back, and quickly,” said Brian Finkelmeyer, vAuto’s Senior Director of Conquest. “Conquest’s Dealer Trade gives our clients new solutions to be more competitive and efficient—whether they’re trading or proactively playing offense to improve their inventory,” continued Finkelmeyer.

An independent research study conducted by vAuto determined dealers are making 22 trades per month on average and 17.7 percent of those trades are a loss, according to dealer self-reported data.¹

“We talk to dealers and evaluate market trends constantly to determine the product enhancements needed to keep our inventory management solutions performing at the highest level,” said Randy Kobat, Senior Vice President of Inventory Software Solutions at Cox Automotive. “New vehicle trading is an important part of the business and ordering restrictions can make it challenging to get the exact inventory needed for a market. And that’s what Conquest helps solve for, enabling dealers to make trading decisions on insights, not gut, to reduce losses and improve their inventory,” Kobat continued.

Conquest takes out the guesswork, helping dealers solve the loss issue by employing an algorithm comprised of propriety data from vAuto, along with additional data from Cox Automotive, while also leveraging support from vAuto’s Performance Management team. Conquest’s trading tool saves dealers the time of hunting through websites and OEM platforms—even if the dealer making the request is not a Conquest user.

“The new Dealer Trade tool in Conquest takes the hassle out of trades by having all of the information and relevant inventory available without having to manage the back and forth often associated with manufacturer-provided OEM tools. Having the necessary information readily available prevents us from taking the wrong vehicle back in exchange and keeps our inventory flowing smoothly, not to mention the overall time it saves with the transaction,” said Turner Silk, Inventory Manager at Glenn Ford Lincoln/Glenn’s Freedom CDJR.

vAuto is currently developing additional enhancements for Conquest, including improved marketing integrations and new metrics, which are expected to launch in 2019.

For more information on Dealer Trade, visit vAuto.com/WinTrades or call 888-536-4086.

¹  vAuto Fall 2018 Dealer Trades Study November 6, 2018 (page 8)

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