KPI Guide - Used Vehicle Department

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Used to New Ratio

Calculation: No. of Used Retail Units Sold  ÷ No. of New Retail Units Sold

What does it measure: Measures the mix of used retails vehicles sold as a proportion of all retail vehicle sales at the dealership.

Retail Gross per Unit

Calculation: Total Used Retail Gross Profit ÷ No. of Used Retail Units Sold

What does it measure: How much gross profit was earnt on average for each used car retailed.

Wholesale Gross per Unit

Calculation: Total Used Wholesale Gross Profit ÷ No. of Used Wholesale Units Sold

What does it measure: How much gross profit was earnt on average for each used car wholesaled.

Why is it important: Low to negative figures for this KPI may indicate that a dealership is not getting any particular benefit from wholesaling or trade-ins. The used cars the dealership is accepting may not have many prospects.

Net Gross per Used Vehicle Retailed

Calculation: (Used Retail Gross Profit + Used Wholesale Gross Profit) ÷ No. of Used Retail Units Sold

What does it measure: Vehicle gross profit generated by the used vehicle department expressed on a per retail unit basis.

Units Sold per Sales Employee per Month

Calculation: No. of Retail Units Sold ÷ No. of Used Vehicle Sales Employees

What does it measure: The average number of retail used vehicles sold by each member of the used vehicle sales team.

Why is it important: A measure of salesperson's ability to sell vehicles and indicates the level of throughput at the dealership.

Gross per Sales Employee per Month

Calculation: Used Vehicle Gross Profit1 ÷ No. of Used Vehicle Sales Employees

What does it measure: The average gross profit generated by each member of the used vehicle sales team. 

Why is it important: A measure of salesperson's ability to be profitable when making vehicle sales. 

Total Selling Expenses % Gross

Calculation: (Used Vehicle Department Variable Expenses + Used Vehicle Department Semi-Fixed Expenses) ÷ Used Vehicle Gross Profit1

What does it measure: How much it costs to sell used vehicles as a proportion of how much profit the used vehicle department makes on the same sales. Note, this KPI does not reflect overheads but only those expenses that are considered directly related to the sale of vehicles i.e. 'selling expenses'.

Why is it important: Observing this total figure indicates if the costs are too high in the department given the level of sales at the dealership. Drilling down into the particular expense categories enables effective expense management and control.

Used Vehicle Selling Gross % Gross

Calculation: (Used Vehicle Gross Profit1 - Used Vehicle Variable Expenses - Used Vehicle Semi Fixed Expenses) ÷ Used Vehicle Gross Profit

What does it measure: How much gross profit is actually retained by the used vehicle department.

Why is it important: Selling gross % gross profit is the measure of departmental profitability in ProfitFocus reports. Even if a dealership manages a high level of sales volume, a low selling gross % gross figure indicates that the used vehicle department is still not that profitable. Often this may require a dealership to investigate the expenses of the department or the grosses required to sustain the current level of expenses. 

Selling Gross per Used Vehicle Retailed ($PUVR)

Calculation: (Used Vehicle Gross Profit1 - Used Vehicle Variable Expenses - Used Vehicle Semi Fixed Expenses) ÷ No. of Used Retail Units Sold

What does it measure: How much gross profit was retained on average for each used vehicle sold by the dealership.

Why is it important: It is useful to compare this KPI to Gross Profit per Used Vehicle SoldIf this figure is low, but 'gross per unit' is high - the dealership should investigate the department's expense control.

Selling Gross per Used Vehicle Sales Employee

Calculation: (Used Vehicle Gross Profit1 - Used Vehicle Variable Expenses - Used Vehicle Semi Fixed Expenses) ÷ No. of Used Vehicle Sales Employees

What does it measure: How much gross profit was retained on average by each used vehicle sales employee.

Why is it important: It is useful to compare this KPI to Gross per Sales Employee per MonthIf this figure is low, but 'gross per sales employee' is high - the dealership should investigate the department's expense control.

Used Vehicle Days Supply

Calculation: (No. of Used Vehicles on Hand ÷ No. of Retail Used Vehicles Sold) × No. of Days in Month i.e. 30.4 days

What does it measure: How many days the dealership can sustain sales for based on levels of used vehicle stock and current sales performance. 

Why is it important: Indicates how well used vehicle stock levels are controlled. Consistently high days supply figures should be addressed as there is a direct correlation to stock holding costs of the dealership e.g. floorplan interest.

Ageing of Stock

Calculation: Value of Stock Held for 0-30* Days ÷ Value of Total Stock on Hand 
*Ageing categories are 0-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, 90+ days.

What does it measure: Measures the mix of stock based on the date they were brought into stock.

Why is it important: Indicates how long dealers are holding their stock (i.e. being unable to sell them).

Average Cost on Hand

Calculation: Value of Used Vehicle Stock on Hand ÷ No. of Used Vehicles on Hand

What does it measure: The average cost to holding a used vehicle at the dealership.

Why is it important: Provides an understanding of the value of the used vehicles the dealership has available to sell.

Average Cost of Sale

Calculation: (Used Vehicle Retail & Wholesale Sales - Used Vehicle Retail & Wholesale Gross Profit) ÷ No. of Retail Used Vehicles Sold

What does it measure: The average cost price of the retail vehicles that the dealership sells.

Why is it important: It is useful to compare the average cost that a dealership sells its used vehicles at to the cost to the dealership of holding the cars itself. If the average cost of sale is significantly lower than the average cost on hand, this may reflect a lost gross profit opportunity.

ROI (Gross ROI)

Calculation: (Used Vehicle Gross Profit1 ÷ Used Vehicle Cost of Sales) × (365 Days ÷ Used Vehicle Days Supply)

What does it measure: A measure of the efficient utilisation of current investment in inventory. The higher the figure for the KPI, the better return a dealership is getting from holding stock.


1Used Vehicle Gross Profit includes retail and wholesale gross profit as well as aftermarket income.