DALLAS -

A new process for capitalizing on service drive opportunities was announced Monday by automotive inventory management company RedBumper.

Called SmartDrive, the system allows a dealer to identify in real-time those service drive customers who are in a positive equity position. By mining data from the dealership’s sales history, SmartDrive determines the approximate payoff for any service customer’s auto loan and compares this payoff amount to local auction prices, the company reports.

RedBumper cited industry statistics estimating that 20–25 percent of service drive customers have positive equity in their vehicles.

“SmartDrive integrates these vehicles directly into a manager’s appraisal cue each day,” said Bruce Thompson, chief executive officer and founder of RedBumper. “With a simple click, the manager gets every detail needed to evaluate the value of the vehicle, including information on the original salesperson. Once a value is determined, the system will find every new and used vehicle in their current inventory that they can sell to the customer today, for the exact same payment or less.”

RedBumper’s calculations use the customer’s existing equity as a down payment, and the manager selects the optimal replacement units to present based on profitability, the company said.

Also, the system harvests leads from historical sales using algorithms similar to those used in the service drive, to determine which vehicles are in positive equity position today. These units are automatically sent to the manager’s appraisal cue and emailed to him each day.

“Dealers can dramatically increase sales by simply using their own historical data in the right way,” said Thompson. “The real beauty is not only can dealers sell new vehicles, but also acquire great pre-owned inventory in a tight market. The dealer knows all the service history of these pre-owned vehicles so he knows what he’s getting when he buys or trades for the vehicle.

“Done properly, with the right tools, the dealer’s own customer base should be replacing vehicles every three to four years. Add that to new sales and you can understand why each and every new customer is so valuable. It’s like compound interest.”

RedBumper apps can be downloaded free by service writers and salespeople; for more information, visit www.RedBumper.com.