What stands out to me is not a lack of effort or capability. It is a structural imbalance in the operation. There are areas of the business that are producing and contributing—New Vehicles, Service, Parts, and F&I—but too much of that gain is being absorbed by underperformance in Used Vehicles and the Body Shop.
The same pattern shows up on the sales side. The Ford market opportunity is there. Demand exists. The issue is that the dealership is not capturing that opportunity as effectively as it should, and that leaves meaningful gross on the table. To me, that points back to structure, clarity, and execution—not potential.
My approach is simple: train the team on clear process, define what good execution looks like, and inspect it daily with the right tools. When expectations are clear and routines are consistent, results stabilize. We will focus on a few critical operating disciplines, coach to them every day, and hold the line until the gains show up in the numbers.
Clear Standards
Daily Discipline
Stable Margin
YTD Selling Gross
💰$1.288M
Strong earning base to build from.
YTD Fixed Expense
💸$1.791M
Sets the bar we have to cover consistently.
March Gross (Used)
📉-$45.5K
Most immediate performance recovery target.
We need to protect what is already working. New vehicle gross quality is up (+$291K YTD selling gross). Trucks and Lincoln SUVs remain margin engines. Service is productive, and F&I performance is steady.
These lines are strong profit producers. We need to validate where F-150 margin position is helping us and where it may be costing us local share.
Balanced mix supporting 5,400+ main-shop ROs and $1.58M in core sales.
Customer Pay recorded 782 repair orders and $234,742 in sales in March. Year to date, Customer Pay recorded 2,176 repair orders and $665,700 in sales. Gross profit was $159,058 in March and $457,570 year to date, with gross percentages of 67.8% (March) and 68.7% (YTD).
March CP ROs
782
Sales: $234,742
YTD CP ROs
2,176
Sales: $665,700
March CP Gross %
67.8%
Gross: $159,058
YTD CP Gross %
68.7%
Gross: $457,570
March and YTD view of pay-type sales mix versus estimated total shop hours consumed.
Customer Pay YTD: 2,176 ROs / $665,700
Warranty YTD: 1,577 ROs / $546,641
Internal YTD: 1,654 ROs / $376,333
⚠ Key Insight:
Labor per repair order for Customer Pay was $306 YTD. Using the CP labor rate of $225, estimated labor hours per RO were 1.36 YTD, compared to Warranty at 1.71. Sales mix and capacity mix are not the same.
These are the fastest paths to improved performance. If we stabilize Used front-end economics and tighten showroom execution, we will capture gross that is already available in our market.
Volume is steady (162 YTD), but gross % dropped to 4.34%. PUVR recovery is the direct path to reversing the -$45.5K MTD used gross loss.
We captured 36.9% of our market. Reclaiming even part of the 246 units won by local competitors will move the store quickly.
Explorer (50.0%) and Ranger (53.1%) are clear execution opportunities for immediate volume lift.
Selling gross dipped to $11K YTD.
233
YTD Body Shop ROs
We need to rebuild body-shop volume to support current overhead and restore fixed-ops contribution.
These are the operating risks that can erode margin if we do not manage them with strict daily discipline.
CPO is currently at 0%. Restarting CPO and reducing wholesale dependence is key to rebuilding front-end gross quality.
We need to confirm whether traffic decline is external (lost DRP/referral) or internal (cycle time/process delays), then correct fast.
New gross quality improved, but advertising ($160K) and floorplan ($257K) must be tightened so more profit reaches the bottom line.
Warranty is running heavier hours per RO. Dispatch discipline has to protect Customer Pay access and advisor throughput.
Immediate actions, required data for the next management review, and clear ownership.
🎯 Target: Used Mgr / GM
📁 Data Req for Next Review:
Aging buckets (0-30/31-60/61+), Avg recon cost/cycle time, Source mix (trade/auction/street).
🎯 Target: Body Mgr / Fixed Ops
📁 Data Req for Next Review:
DRP status, insurance referral breakdown, Keys-to-keys cycle time, Estimate-to-close conversion.
🎯 Target: New Dir / GSM / GM
📁 Data Req for Next Review:
CRM response time, Appt set/show rate, Trade-in close ratio, Lost-sale reason by competitor.
🎯 Target: Fixed Ops Dir / GM
📁 Data Req for Next Review:
ELR by pay type, Dispatch mix by stall/tech, Capacity utilization by day, Advisor close ratio.
| Area of Focus | Current State | 6-Month Stretch Target |
|---|---|---|
| Used PUVR | $641 | ↑ $1,750 |
| Used Selling Gross | -$45,546 MTD | ↑ $175K–$225K MTD |
| CPO Mix | 0% | ↑ 50% |
| Ford Locality Containment | 36.9% | ↑ 50%+ |
| Body Shop Selling Gross | $11K YTD | ↑ $55K MTD |
| Service Absorption | 71.9% | ↑ 95% |
| Service CP Mix | 40.2% YTD | ↑ 48%–50% |
| Core Sales Effectiveness | Expl 50.0%, Rngr 53.1%, Brnc 73.5%, F350 74.5% | ↑ Explorer 90%+, Ranger 90%+, Bronco 95%+, F-350 90%+ |
The opportunity in this business is meaningful, but these targets assume a much tighter operating model: stronger used-car economics, a true CPO restart, materially better home-market containment, a restored body-shop contribution, and a fixed-ops mix led more heavily by customer pay. If we create clarity around the standards, coach the process daily, and execute with consistency, these targets become stretch but reachable.