SANDY, Utah -

Not every dealership group can count the Utah Jazz as a sister company.

But like Karl Malone taking flight off a John Stockton bounce pass, the Larry H. Miller Dealerships organization is assisted by the cross-marketing opportunities of being under the same corporate umbrella as an NBA franchise.

LHM Dealerships is, of course, part of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, which includes everything from sports franchises and movie theaters to car dealerships and TV/radio stations, just to name a few verticals.

The larger company aims to “cross-promote each entity within the group,” said Rod Rowley, who is vice president of new and used inventory at LHM Dealerships.

So, that might be offering movie tickets as an added perk during a car sale.

Or showing commercials for the dealerships during a movie at one of the company’s theaters, Rowley told Auto Remarketing during a late December phone interview.

This mutually beneficial practice of one division using its talents and resources to help another can also be found within the LHM Dealerships organization itself.

Case in point, its inventory management approach to make sure the right used-car supply is at the right store.

The retailer has an internal daily report that shows the days’ supply at each store, Rowley said. This allows LHM Dealerships to focus on specific stores, as needed.

In other words, who needs inventory, who has too much.

The group also has an internal wholesale website it can use to send vehicles to other stores. Additionally, LHM Dealerships has approved wholesale accounts who can purchase inventory.

“So if we have a story with high inventory, we’ll move some cars to stores with a lower day’s supply, and we’ll also offer the inventory for sale wholesale, without having them leave the lot,” Rowley said.

The internal wholesale site, which the group runs itself, is called LHM Wholesale. And dealers outside the group can actually sign up to be part of it, Rowley said, and purchase frontline-ready cars from the retailer.

When it comes to acquiring used vehicles, Rowley said:  “Our biggest focus is on our appraisal process within the store. The best inventory is what we trade for at the front door.”

The dealership group, especially over the last half of 2015, has put a big emphasis on building an appraisal process at each of its stores “that’s transparent and friendly with customers,” Rowley said.

During that same time frame, the retailer began an internal program called “appraisal central,” he added.

“The dealers can send any appraisal to the team of people we’ve hired that will give them a buy-bid on a car,” he said. “So, the theory behind that is, the appraisal central guys will see a car, they’ll have a vision for what dealership that car should go to, and then bid the car accordingly.

 “We’re finding (that) we’re getting a little bit more money for cars.”

Top hurdles & opportunities for dealer groups

 Auto Remarketing also talked with Rowley about what he sees as the opportunities and challenges for large dealership groups like Larry H. Miller in the used-car market for 2016.  

Lead management, he said, has some potential that is “just enormous,” including areas like incoming leads and incoming phone calls.

As for the challenges for big dealer groups? Gross compression.

 “We see that all the time; grosses are less and less with the competition that we have online to sell used cars,” he said. “It’s so much easier (now) for a small, independent guy to compete online just by price.”