State of the Union

As we ring in 2022 and say goodbye to 2021, we reflect on the changes that occurred in the auto industry as well as for us here at Hewlett Volkswagen.

It’s safe to say, 2021 brought more challenges and opportunities than we’ve ever witnessed as an industry. With the micro-chip shortage and supply chain issues causing havoc on the auto industry, we here at Hewlett Volkswagen embraced those challenges and made the best of it.

While we still had inventory shortages, Volkswagen continued to build vehicles. It was up to us to figure out how to get our “unfair” share of those shipments to keep our volume high and take care of our customer base. VW basically went to a turn rate and days-supply algorithm to fairly allocate inventory. Translation, if you had the least amount of inventory and the highest sell rate, you would receive more inventory at a faster pace.

How does that help you? We have the mindset that every car must go. We are making deals on every vehicle we get because, frankly, while it does improve our turn rate and shorten our days-supply, it also takes care of our customers because we can get them into the cars and SUV’s they want at a faster pace.

Of course, while all this has our management team working around the clock to keep tabs on our incoming pipeline, our inventory on the ground and our sell rate for the new car side, we haven’t forgotten about the pre-owned department.

In fact, we’ve increased our inventory on the pre-owned side, more than we’ve ever had actually. Our pre-owned inventory is so robust, we jokingly call ourselves “the pre-owned factory” because almost everyone looking for something pre-owned, drives away with their dream car.

We look for 2022 and maybe even 2023 to be similar with the challenges we’ve seen in 2021 but one thing will be drastically different for us here at Hewlett Volkswagen. Yes, you heard it here first…. We’re putting the final touches on the design of our all-new showroom and service areas. Yes, Hewlett Volkswagen will soon undergo a complete remodel that will knock your socks off. This design is so advanced with technology and EV design elements, one look when you walk in will make you sit back and just say “wow”. It will be beautiful, and we cannot wait. More details to come in my next newsletter so stay tuned.

In the meantime, new inventory is coming in and the pre-owned inventory has its best selection ever so come by and see us, the time to trade is GREAT!

Happy Motoring

John Chauvin – GM

Hewlett Volkswagen