KPIs for Car Dealerships
These are the KPIs a vehicle dealership tracks across sales, stock, finance and the service department. Stock days and service absorption are the ones that keep the business steady.
The KPIs to track
Gross profit per vehicle sold
Gross profit on vehicle sales divided by the number of vehicles sold.
Days supply of inventory
Vehicles in stock divided by the average daily sales rate, showing how long stock would last.
Lead-to-sale conversion
Vehicles sold from enquiries divided by the total enquiries.
Finance and insurance income per vehicle
Income from finance and add-on products divided by vehicles sold.
Service absorption rate
Gross profit from service and parts divided by the dealership's fixed operating expenses.
Inventory turnover shows how many times a business sells and replaces its stock in a period.
Formula and SQL query on the Inventory Turnover page.
Days of inventory is the average number of days stock sits before it is sold.
Formula and SQL query on the Days of Inventory (DIO) page.
Cost per lead is the average marketing spend needed to generate one lead.
Formula and SQL query on the Cost per Lead (CPL) page.
Where the data usually lives
A dealer management system, the website and portal enquiry feeds, and the finance provider's reports.
Measurement mistakes to avoid
- Gross profit should be after prep and reconditioning costs, or vehicle margin is overstated.
- Ageing stock is a cost; look at days in stock, not just the totals.
- Finance income per vehicle depends on who is counted: all vehicles sold or only those financed.
Questions to ask your data
You can type these as plain questions. SchemaChat turns each one into SQL against your connected database or uploaded file, runs it, and shows the SQL and the figures it used so you can check the answer before you share it. Check that the result matches how your business defines each KPI.
- How many days of stock do we hold by model?
- What is gross profit per vehicle by salesperson?
- How many enquiries turned into sales last month?
- Which vehicles have been in stock for more than 90 days?