One of the graphic pictures in one of the presentations I recently gave is a picture of a bullfighter. The bullfighter’s shin has been punctured by the bull’s horn and the picture captures that moment when the horn punctured the skin, but still r

Calculating fixed absorption is one of the most important business-strength measurements a serious dealership investor can make. In case you aren’t savvy on this, fixed absorption is a calculation of the gross profit generated in the “fix

I have been thrashing The Garage drum (check out www.NetProfitTraining.com) for a number of columns now. We and a hundred of our closest dealer friends have learned quite a bit this past year, both from victories and gaffes while implementing this un

I had the pleasure of speaking at the AutoTeam America CFO Forum on Friday afternoon before the official opening of the NADA Convention.  The event is always well attended by dealers of all brands along with their financial personnel.  Based on the

Did you know that offering a warranty on a new or used vehicle, even one that is limited in duration, can open a dealership up to litigation years after the warranty has expired? Many dealerships currently offer written warranties on new and used veh

Last year, Mike Jackson, chairman and CEO of AutoNation, commented that our industry’s operating benchmarks have not changed in half a century.  He was speaking specifically about our inventory supply and the long held belief that a 60-days supply

Visiting with various dealers throughout the country the last few weeks, I decided to conduct a survey identifying what they believe is needed to increase business from the front end sales department. I first asked them how things were going. “Well

Here is a riddle for you. The average dealership saw its sales decline by 14% in the third quarter of 2009 and yet its gross profit dropped only 8%.  How is this possible if the largest portion of sales, the new car department, experienced a 25% dec

Last year we saw things that were previously unimaginable. OEM bankruptcies, franchise terminations, and many more dealers that just went out of business because they couldn’t survive the economic challenges. Automotive financing, both retail and w