In the midst of the uncertainty of COVID-19, many businesses are just looking for ways to get by. For Chris Marhofer, President and COO of Ron Marhofer Auto Family, surviving turned into thriving. Chris joined anchor Jim Fitzpatrick to talk about how they were able to have a record month of used-vehicle sales in the midst of a pandemic.
Ron Marhofer Auto Family has always managed its inventory with the velocity method according to Chris. Once COVID-19 hit in March, he saw the opportunity to keep a hard turn on inventory. So, instead of sitting on the dealership’s current inventory with lower demand, Chris decided to lower prices and liquidate that inventory. That allowed Chris to be in the position to acquire inventory when demand eventually went back up.
“We took a significant haircut on our used-car inventory as we sold cars the middle part of March through April,” says Chris. “What I tried to do was bring inventory down to match the sales demand. So we got down to a 30-day supply and that allowed us to have the opportunity to acquire inventory in the auctions.”
For more great insight from Chris Marhofer, be sure to watch our entire interview above.
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