A large UK dealer group successfully tracked down a new car that had been lost in its group stock for over a year after using inventory review technology.
The vehicle was uncovered when senior managers carried out a routine review of overage stock across the group using Autofinity’s ViHUB vehicle inventory management and publishing platform.
The car had been ordered for a customer, but the sale was never completed, and the vehicle remained in group stock for more than a year.
The incident highlights how gaps in inventory visibility can affect dealer profitability, particularly as vehicles are depreciating assets.
Autofinity said a lack of a complete, accurate overview of group stock makes such situations more likely, especially for large dealer groups operating across multiple sites with thousands of vehicles to track.
Andy Whitehair said: "Unfortunately, this sort of situation is not uncommon. It is very difficult for large dealer groups with multiple sites that retail thousands of units per year to track every vehicle.
"Apparently, the vehicle, which was worth more than £40k, was literally sitting in group stock where it had been for 400 days after it was ordered on behalf of a customer, but for one reason or another, the sale was never completed."
Whitehair said that while it is normal practice to remarket a vehicle quickly when a deal falls through, this can fail if internal systems are not updated correctly.
He said: “Obviously, it’s common practice that when a sale falls through, the dealership or group offloads the vehicle in another sale as quickly as possible prior to the receipt of the manufacturer’s invoice.
"However, in this case, the vehicle was overlooked and remained in stock for over a year, which sounds ridiculous but can easily happen."
Autofinity said vehicles can become effectively hidden when a sale collapses, and the vehicle status is not updated in the dealer management system.
In such cases, the vehicle may still be recorded as sold, meaning it does not appear on standard stock or retail reports.
Whitehair added: “The dealer management system (DMS) is essentially an accounting system that keeps track of assets.
"When deals fall out of bed, if the status of the vehicle is not updated, it does not appear on reports of actively retailed vehicles and unless someone is searching for erroneous vehicles, it is likely that it will remain ‘hidden’.
"While the car will have a physical existence at a compound, employees will work off lists which will not generate a vehicle which has been ‘lost’ in such a way and there it will stay.
"That’s exactly what happened in this case.
"It wasn’t until a report went through our platform to flag overaged group stock that the vehicle was ‘found’. It had been parked at the compound for an unbelievable 400 days.”
He added that while the case was extreme, extended stock holding periods increase costs and erode margins, making accurate and up-to-date stock visibility increasingly important for dealer groups.
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Tom Seymour is an experienced freelance journalist specialising in the automotive and business sectors, with more than 20 years’ experience reporting and analysing industry developments.
As a regular contributor to Bauer Media’s B2B titles Fleet News and Automotive Management (AM), he covers topics ranging from fleet operations and electrification to dealership performance, manufacturer strategy and the wider mobility landscape.
In addition to his writing, Tom presents and hosts webinars for AM, leading discussions with senior industry figures on key trends and challenges affecting the UK automotive retail sector.
He also plays a central role in shaping and delivering content for the annual Automotive Management Live show, developing sessions that explore innovation, leadership and operational excellence across the industry.
Since moving into freelance journalism in 2015, Tom has worked with a range of business, technology and transport publications from his “box in the garden” in Norwich.
Away from deadlines he is a former alternative rock drummer and committed movie buff, as well as a perpetually exhausted father of two lively goblins.
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