Jones said that considered on a financial basis only the top-performing dealers have a scientifically-derived, desired stock profile which they continually refine and use in their buying decisions.

This profile will include a plan for the used car from its acquisition to the point it is sold or traded on and uses a matrix based on the return on investment available from vehicles that are core to the business.

“The average dealer chooses to operate with a more flexible framework which unfortunately does not deliver the same level of profitability,” Jones said.

To support dealers ASE has built a used vehicle analysis platform called UVP.

It analyses the information held within the DMS and enables the dealer to assess current stock and develop their stocking plan based on facts rather than instinct.

Tracey Hatton at Mrs Mini, a Surrey-based independent specialising in the marque, uses the Radar system launched by Glass’s last year which provides spot prices to help guide dealers on pricing their retail stock.

Hatton said it has made a significant positive impact on revenues.

“We save time from trawling through websites by getting local and national competitor pricing with the added advantage of being able to see the length of time stock is taking to sell,” she added.

Glassnet Radar is now in use by five of the top 10 AM100 franchised dealer groups.

Real time analysis

Deltapoint, the UK automotive data analytics company owned by Trader Media Group, also launched a used car stock management tool called    i-Control last year.

The software recommends what stock to buy, where to find it, how much to pay and how much to sell it for. It will suggest price movements with an online pricing tool to align to real-time local market demand, using Auto Trader’s data.

Paul Jarvis, Deltapoint managing director, said: “Few, if any, dealers have a data intelligence unit and the average stock turn of about seven times a year is not a great return on capital employed (ROCE).

"We know of dealers who, through analysing demand trends and pricing, have increased stock turn by up to 11 times a year.

Much faster stock turn results in an ability and agility to respond to retail price movements and changes in consumer demand.”

The average days in stock at a franchised dealership is now 48 days, compared to 55 days last year and 53 in 2010.

Part of the issue is the time lost between the vehicle being sourced, arriving at the dealership, being prepared and finally being marketed online and on the forecourt.

Deltapoint commercial director Richard Thwaite said the average time taken for this process is seven days.

Its analysis of 435,000 vehicles advertised for sale at dealers  found that 52% were not matched to current demand and 64% of those in stock for 60+ days had not been re-priced.