Cox Automotive’s Dale Pollak shares his best practices for sourcing used car inventory in today’s climate

Dale Pollak grew up a dealership kid in Indiana and worked alongside his father Les, to learn the car business. Dale ran his own line of successful stores for years until he followed his interest in computer science and eventually founded inventory management software juggernaut, vAuto. vAuto, now part of Cox Automotive, has been at the forefront of innovation for nearly two decades. Dale has written prolifically about the dynamics of the car business.

The biggest problem for car dealers these days is not selling cars, it’s acquiring cars and that’s something Pollak and Cox automotive have been keenly aware of for the past 18 months. It’s also the inspiration behind vAuto’s new Global Acquisition System, an industry-first, omnichannel sourcing platform.

The shortage of vehicles at auction, combined with the shortage of new vehicle inventory and trades, is forcing car dealers to source vehicles using new, untraditional channels. Pollak says car dealers are paying more attention to grounded leases. They’re also buying used vehicles from other dealers using new startup digital auctions.

These new channels are relatively unfamiliar and the methods car dealers are using, are all over the board and have varying degrees of success. This presented a great opportunity to create a system that will help car dealers be more effective and more efficient when sourcing cars. Using Cox Automotive’s abundance of data, Director of Innovation Chris Stutzman spent months tediously mapping thousands of fields that represent channels of acquisition.

The supply shortage could be with the auto industry long-term. One of the important lessons that dealers have learned sourcing cars in these alternate channels, is that they can acquire vehicles with better terms than through traditional models. So, the opportunities that the Global Acquisition System presents are numerous. Be one of the first to see the new Global Acquisition System in action at the upcoming NADA Show in Las Vegas. 

Additionally, Pollak is releasing a brand new book titled, “Whole Truth: A Fresh Money-Making Method to Wholesale, the Most Misunderstood Side of Your Business” available this May. After writing for years about the retail industry, Pollak became fascinated by the wholesale market. This book takes a deep dive into the fundamental dynamics that impede dealers’ success and what auto retail professionals can do to navigate the market.

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