Ron Baus on Inventory Issues in Today’s Economy
Transcript
Sean : Now, you know, we’re currently dealing with semiconductor issue, no chips, lower new cars or fewer, here and there. What’s, what’s your inventory acquisition system like now? And how do you feel like your OEMs handling the the allocation? And how are you, I guess, handling other optimization of other areas of your dealership like service and parts?n
nRon : I think it’s a lot, every day is gonna be a challenge. You know, if you really think you’re gonna wake up and walk down the yellow brick road, sorry, it’s just that’s not a realistic thing. I mean, I think it’s just, you know, I think really kind of just how we deal with it right?, n nFor example, I’ve got, I think, 9, Amazon vans, that need transmissions, and I can’t get transmissions. But I’m not the only one. You know, I mean, there’s, you know, so it’s not just limited to me. As far as new car inventory, our manufacturers just encouraged sold orders. And for the most part, you pretty much get them built. You know, there are some restrictions or certain things that, you know, are, you know, a little frustrating. n
nYou know, I’ve ordered cars for the last, you know, 2530 years, and almost to the point where I’m like, it’s just, it’s almost like a nuisance right now. Because we’ll get our allocation, you put the order in, and then immediately the restriction store and then you have to delete this or add this drop this order or do this, it’s like, like, you have to look at it every day, at least that’s from, you know, our manufacturer, you know, is that bad? I mean, I don’t think it’s any worse than anybody other manufacturers. Personally. I think our manufacturer is doing, you know, as good a job as they can, based on the circumstance we have.n
nI mean, do they want, you know, vans with bad trans? No, nobody does with there’s no, like, you know, I mean, sometimes people were just, you know, irrational when it’s like, you know, they’re holding them in this. There’s no, there’s no reason to hold up these things and do that. So I think that, you know, the shortage, you know, like, you know, the pros are my expense on the new car floorplan is down, it’s non-existent, it’s, you know, you know, the, you know, the availability of things are still there. I have a good trade relationship in my area with a few dealers. n
nSo I am fortunate that, you know, if I do need something, I can get it to give something back or my guys, though, you know, that my guys, but you know, my from buying something, though, you know, they can wait a week, I’m gonna, hey, listen, I need this and so on. So if it’s so we have, you know, some pretty good communication that way, at least I do. So, I’m fortunate in that respect that, you know, there’s, we’re competition, but we don’t, we don’t hate each other. n
nYou know, like, that’s the, it’s funny, because I can remember going back in the late 80s, early 90s and like, a dealer trade, it was like, like, did you just didn’t, you know, and it was personal, you know, it’s like, this guy, you know, forever, you know, it just it was like it was the craziest thing I ever saw. And I think once we, you know, like, just did today just everybody just, it’s like it’s easier to work together and then work against 1n
nSean : I really appreciate what you said there and I think that’s a very important mindset moving forward because I think you’ve got these mega dealers you know, such as the Carvanau2019s or the, you know, all Autonations or the Car Maxu2019s that are essentially a very large entity that can squashed a little guy right. But if the little guys work together and team up, they can protect each other’s success. I think that’s a really good mindset to have.nn
nRon : I think it’s a lot, every day is gonna be a challenge. You know, if you really think you’re gonna wake up and walk down the yellow brick road, sorry, it’s just that’s not a realistic thing. I mean, I think it’s just, you know, I think really kind of just how we deal with it right?, n nFor example, I’ve got, I think, 9, Amazon vans, that need transmissions, and I can’t get transmissions. But I’m not the only one. You know, I mean, there’s, you know, so it’s not just limited to me. As far as new car inventory, our manufacturers just encouraged sold orders. And for the most part, you pretty much get them built. You know, there are some restrictions or certain things that, you know, are, you know, a little frustrating. n
nYou know, I’ve ordered cars for the last, you know, 2530 years, and almost to the point where I’m like, it’s just, it’s almost like a nuisance right now. Because we’ll get our allocation, you put the order in, and then immediately the restriction store and then you have to delete this or add this drop this order or do this, it’s like, like, you have to look at it every day, at least that’s from, you know, our manufacturer, you know, is that bad? I mean, I don’t think it’s any worse than anybody other manufacturers. Personally. I think our manufacturer is doing, you know, as good a job as they can, based on the circumstance we have.n
nI mean, do they want, you know, vans with bad trans? No, nobody does with there’s no, like, you know, I mean, sometimes people were just, you know, irrational when it’s like, you know, they’re holding them in this. There’s no, there’s no reason to hold up these things and do that. So I think that, you know, the shortage, you know, like, you know, the pros are my expense on the new car floorplan is down, it’s non-existent, it’s, you know, you know, the, you know, the availability of things are still there. I have a good trade relationship in my area with a few dealers. n
nSo I am fortunate that, you know, if I do need something, I can get it to give something back or my guys, though, you know, that my guys, but you know, my from buying something, though, you know, they can wait a week, I’m gonna, hey, listen, I need this and so on. So if it’s so we have, you know, some pretty good communication that way, at least I do. So, I’m fortunate in that respect that, you know, there’s, we’re competition, but we don’t, we don’t hate each other. n
nYou know, like, that’s the, it’s funny, because I can remember going back in the late 80s, early 90s and like, a dealer trade, it was like, like, did you just didn’t, you know, and it was personal, you know, it’s like, this guy, you know, forever, you know, it just it was like it was the craziest thing I ever saw. And I think once we, you know, like, just did today just everybody just, it’s like it’s easier to work together and then work against 1n
nSean : I really appreciate what you said there and I think that’s a very important mindset moving forward because I think you’ve got these mega dealers you know, such as the Carvanau2019s or the, you know, all Autonations or the Car Maxu2019s that are essentially a very large entity that can squashed a little guy right. But if the little guys work together and team up, they can protect each other’s success. I think that’s a really good mindset to have.nn