Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking | AVAS Automotive Data Platform
Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking: How New Car Dealers Can Manage Every Vehicle on the Lot
For a new car dealership, inventory is constantly moving.
A vehicle can arrive from the manufacturer, move through inspection, service, detail, merchandising, an overflow lot, a customer test drive, fueling, delivery preparation, or even another dealership location before it is ultimately sold.
The dealership's inventory system may know the vehicle exists.
The DMS may know its VIN.
The website may advertise it for sale.
But none of those systems necessarily answer one of the most immediate questions a salesperson can ask:
Where is the vehicle right now?
That is the problem dealership GPS inventory tracking is designed to solve.
GPS inventory tracking gives authorized dealership employees a physical vehicle visibility layer that can complement the dealership's existing DMS, inventory-management, CRM, and merchandising systems.
Instead of relying on memory, phone calls, radio traffic, or employees walking through rows of vehicles, a connected dealership can use GPS technology to help locate equipped inventory and understand where vehicles are physically positioned.
For new car dealers managing hundreds—or dealer groups managing thousands—of high-value vehicles, that visibility can become an important operational advantage.
With AVAS, however, the opportunity extends beyond locating inventory.
AVAS can help dealerships connect the physical vehicle to a broader technology strategy encompassing inventory protection, connected ownership, customer intelligence, AI, and the AVAS Automotive Data Platform.
The result is a different way to think about dealership inventory:
Know the vehicle. Know where it is. Understand its lifecycle. Keep the connection after it sells.
What Is Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking?
Dealership GPS inventory tracking uses GPS-enabled vehicle technology and dealership software to help authorized users locate and manage equipped vehicles across dealership property and other authorized locations.
Depending on the GPS hardware, platform configuration, connectivity, and dealership workflow, a vehicle tracking system can help provide visibility into:
Current or last reported vehicle location
Vehicle movement
Lot location
Geofence activity
Inventory transfers
Off-site inventory
Test drives
Demo vehicles
Loaner vehicles
Reconditioning locations
Storage and overflow lots
Multi-rooftop inventory
The important distinction is that GPS does not replace the dealership's inventory-management system.
The two systems answer different questions.
A traditional inventory platform might tell the dealership:
What vehicles do we own?
What is the stock number?
What is the VIN?
What is the asking price?
How many days has it been in inventory?
Is it available for sale?
GPS adds another question:
Where is the physical vehicle?
That sounds simple.
At dealership scale, it can be extremely valuable.
For a broader look at inventory management, theft recovery, demos, loaners, connected ownership, and vehicle intelligence, read our complete guide to GPS tracking for car dealerships.
Why Vehicle Location Is a Bigger Dealership Problem Than It Appears
A dealership lot is not a static warehouse.
Vehicles are constantly being moved.
Consider a new vehicle after it arrives at the dealership.
It may travel through:
Transport Drop-Off
↓
Receiving
↓
Pre-Delivery Inspection
↓
Service
↓
Detail
↓
Photography or Merchandising
↓
Front-Line Inventory
↓
Test Drive
↓
Fuel
↓
Delivery Preparation
↓
Customer Delivery
Now add dealer trades, overflow storage, body work, accessory installation, recalls, aftermarket installations, and transfers between rooftops.
The physical location of a vehicle can change numerous times before the dealership records a retail sale.
Used vehicles can have an even more complicated journey.
Trade or Acquisition
↓
Appraisal
↓
Inspection
↓
Mechanical Reconditioning
↓
Parts
↓
Body or Paint
↓
Detail
↓
Photography
↓
Merchandising
↓
Front Line
Every transition creates another opportunity for the physical vehicle and the digital record to become temporarily disconnected.
A system may accurately report that a vehicle is in inventory without knowing that someone moved it behind the service department 20 minutes ago.
GPS can help close that physical visibility gap.
Dealerships Are Managing Millions of High-Value Vehicles
The scale of automotive inventory makes this problem significant.
According to NADA's 2025 dealership data, U.S. new-vehicle inventory totaled approximately 2.58 million vehicles at year-end. NADA reported roughly 2.10 million domestic units and 479,000 imported vehicles in inventory.
NADA also reported that the average franchised dealership sold approximately 955 new vehicles during 2025, with an average retail selling price of approximately $48,205.
Those numbers illustrate an important point.
Dealers are not managing inexpensive commodities.
Every vehicle occupying dealership property represents tens of thousands of dollars in inventory.
At the market level, the numbers remain substantial in 2026. Cox Automotive's September 2026 market snapshot reported approximately 2.68 million new vehicles available during August, with a 73-day supply. Cox also reported an average new-vehicle listing price of approximately $49,486.
Cox Automotive Market Snapshot
The dealership therefore has a strong operational reason to maintain visibility into those assets.
Inventory accounting tells the dealer what it owns.
GPS inventory tracking can help the dealer understand where those assets physically are.
Use Case: A Customer Arrives and Nobody Can Find the Vehicle
Consider one of the most common dealership scenarios.
A customer finds a vehicle online.
They submit a lead.
A salesperson confirms availability.
The customer drives to the dealership.
The salesperson enters the stock number into the dealership's inventory system.
The vehicle is still available.
Then the salesperson walks outside.
The vehicle is not where expected.
Now the search begins.
"Has anyone seen this unit?"
The salesperson checks the front line.
Another employee checks the back lot.
Someone calls detail.
Another person asks service.
A manager thinks it may have been moved to overflow.
Meanwhile, the customer is waiting.
Eventually, the dealership discovers the vehicle was moved to another area earlier that morning.
Nothing was technically wrong with the inventory record.
The vehicle was still owned by the dealership.
The problem was physical location visibility.
GPS Can Change Vehicle Search From a Hunt Into a Query
With a dealership vehicle location system, the process can be much simpler.
Customer asks for vehicle.
↓
Salesperson searches VIN or stock number.
↓
System identifies the equipped vehicle.
↓
Authorized location information is displayed.
↓
Vehicle is retrieved.
The question changes from:
"Who remembers where this vehicle was parked?"
to:
"Where is this vehicle reporting?"
That is a meaningful operational difference.
The dealership becomes less dependent on tribal knowledge.
This is particularly valuable during:
Shift changes
Busy Saturdays
Employee days off
Large inventory deliveries
Model-year transitions
Sales events
High-volume periods
Staff turnover
The person who moved the vehicle does not necessarily need to be the person who later finds it.
The technology maintains the vehicle connection.
The Hidden Cost of Searching for Dealership Inventory
Searching for vehicles feels like a small inconvenience because each individual occurrence may consume only a few minutes.
But dealership operations are repetitive.
A few minutes multiplied across many employees, vehicles, and operating days can become meaningful.
Consider an illustrative dealership—not an industry benchmark—with:
12 employees
each spending an average of:
8 minutes per day
locating vehicles that are not immediately where expected.
That equals:
96 minutes per day
or approximately:
1.6 employee hours per day.
Across 300 operating days:
480 employee hours per year.
At an illustrative fully loaded labor value of $30 per hour:
$14,400 in annual employee time.
And labor is only part of the cost.
The calculation does not include:
Customer wait time
Delayed test drives
Salesperson interruptions
Manager interruptions
Delivery delays
Reduced employee productivity
Poor customer experience
A dealership does not have to eliminate every vehicle search to create value.
Reducing unnecessary searching can improve both employee productivity and customer responsiveness.
Inventory Visibility Can Improve the Customer Experience
GPS inventory tracking may sound like a back-office operational technology.
The customer can feel its effects.
A customer who has already spent hours researching vehicles online expects the dealership to know where the vehicle is when they arrive.
The ideal experience is:
Customer Arrives
↓
Vehicle Located
↓
Vehicle Retrieved
↓
Test Drive Begins
The poor experience is:
Customer Arrives
↓
Vehicle Search Begins
↓
Salesperson Disappears
↓
Customer Waits
↓
Multiple Employees Search
↓
Vehicle Eventually Appears
The difference may only be several minutes.
But those minutes occur at an important moment in the buying experience.
The customer has expressed enough interest to physically visit the dealership.
Reducing operational friction at that moment matters.
Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking Can Support Lot Management
Vehicle location becomes even more useful when considered across the entire dealership property.
Many dealerships have more than one inventory area.
A store may have:
Front-line retail parking
New-vehicle storage
Used-vehicle inventory
Service parking
Detail
Reconditioning
Customer parking
Employee parking
Delivery staging
Overflow storage
Off-site lots
A vehicle may technically be "at the dealership" while still being difficult to locate quickly.
GPS can provide more granular physical visibility.
Instead of knowing:
Vehicle is at Store A
employees may be able to determine that the vehicle is positioned in or near a particular dealership area.
The precise capabilities depend on GPS accuracy, device reporting, property configuration, and environmental conditions, but the broader operational benefit remains:
less ambiguity about physical vehicle location.
Use Case: Overflow Lots
Overflow inventory creates a particularly strong use case for GPS inventory tracking for dealerships.
As inventory grows, dealerships may place vehicles on:
Adjacent properties
Satellite lots
Storage facilities
Nearby commercial property
Other rooftops
Employees then need to remember not only where a vehicle is parked, but which property contains it.
This becomes more complicated when inventory moves frequently.
GPS can help establish visibility across those locations.
For example:
Stock #A10432
Store assignment: Main Dealership
Physical location: Overflow Lot B
Instead of sending an employee to multiple locations looking for the vehicle, the dealership can start with better information.
GPS Can Help With Dealer Trades and Vehicle Transfers
Vehicles do not always remain at the dealership that originally received them.
Dealer trades and internal transfers can move inventory between stores.
For a dealer group, the movement might look like:
Store A
↓
Vehicle Transfer
↓
Store B
The inventory system may eventually reflect the reassignment.
GPS adds physical movement visibility.
Depending on platform configuration, authorized users may be able to determine whether a vehicle:
Remains at the originating store
Is in transit
Has arrived at another location
Is located somewhere unexpected
That can reduce confusion when vehicles are moving between dealerships.
Geofencing Can Create Virtual Dealership Boundaries
One of the most useful GPS capabilities for inventory management is geofencing.
A geofence creates a virtual geographic boundary around a defined area.
A dealer might create geofences around:
Main Dealership
Overflow Lot
Reconditioning Center
Collision Center
Storage Facility
Another Rooftop
Depending on system configuration, an equipped vehicle entering or leaving those areas can create an event.
That allows the dealership to understand vehicle movement without requiring employees to manually update every physical change.
For example:
Vehicle leaves Store A
↓
Movement detected
↓
Vehicle enters Store B
↓
Arrival recognized
The technology creates another layer of accountability around inventory movement.
Manage Dealership Inventory by Exception
GPS inventory tracking becomes most useful when employees do not have to monitor it continuously.
A dealership with 500 vehicles does not need someone staring at 500 icons.
It needs technology that helps identify exceptions.
Consider:
Vehicle remains on assigned lot
Normal.
Vehicle moves to detail
Normal.
Vehicle goes on an authorized test drive
Normal.
Vehicle transfers to another rooftop
Expected.
Vehicle leaves dealership property unexpectedly at 2:00 a.m.
Exception.
Vehicle assigned to the main lot appears at an unauthorized location
Exception.
This creates an operational philosophy of:
Manage by exception.
Employees spend their attention on vehicles that require attention rather than monitoring vehicles behaving normally.
This concept also creates a natural bridge between GPS and AI.
As dealership vehicle populations grow, software can increasingly help determine:
What is normal?
and
What deserves human attention?
GPS Inventory Tracking Can Support Vehicle Security
Inventory visibility and vehicle security are related, but they are not identical.
A dealership should still maintain appropriate:
Key controls
Physical security
Cameras
Lighting
Access procedures
Employee policies
Insurance
Theft-response procedures
GPS complements those measures by providing another source of vehicle-location information.
If an inventory vehicle unexpectedly leaves dealership property, GPS-related movement or geofence information may help the dealership identify the event.
If a vehicle is subsequently determined to be stolen, authorized location information may assist the dealership's established recovery process and appropriate law-enforcement coordination.
This is an area we'll address much more deeply in the dedicated GPS Theft Recovery for Car Dealerships article in this content cluster.
The important distinction here is:
Inventory Tracking = Know Where the Vehicle Is
Security = Determine Whether It Should Be There
When those capabilities work together, the dealership has better context.
Inventory Turn Makes Vehicle Visibility More Important
Dealership inventory is valuable because it is intended to be sold.
The goal is not simply to possess inventory.
The goal is to move vehicles efficiently through the dealership and ultimately into customer ownership.
NADA's 2025 Dealership Productivity Guide lists a management guide of approximately 45 days' supply for new vehicles, equivalent to eight turns per year, and approximately 30 days' supply for used vehicles, equivalent to 12 turns annually. NADA also identifies a three-day reconditioning turnaround guide for used vehicles.
NADA Dealership Productivity Guide
GPS cannot determine inventory strategy.
It cannot decide which vehicles the dealership should stock or how they should be priced.
But GPS can help remove a basic physical-world inefficiency from that strategy:
not knowing where the vehicle is.
When the objective is efficient inventory movement, unnecessary time spent locating assets adds no value.
Used-Vehicle Reconditioning Makes Location Visibility Even More Valuable
Used inventory introduces additional complexity because vehicles frequently move through several operational stages before becoming retail-ready.
Consider:
Vehicle Acquired
↓
Inspection
↓
Mechanical Work
↓
Parts Delay
↓
Body Repair
↓
Detail
↓
Photography
↓
Merchandising
↓
Retail Lot
Some dealerships centralize reconditioning.
Others use outside vendors.
Dealer groups may operate dedicated reconditioning centers serving multiple rooftops.
A workflow-management system may know:
Vehicle status: Body Shop
GPS may add:
Vehicle location: Off-site facility
These two pieces of information solve different problems.
The workflow explains what stage the vehicle is in.
GPS helps explain where the physical asset is.
Together, they provide a more complete operational picture.
Large Dealer Groups Have a Different Inventory Visibility Challenge
The value of GPS can increase as dealership organizations grow.
A single rooftop may manage hundreds of vehicles.
A large dealer group can manage thousands across:
Multiple Franchises
Used-Car Centers
Overflow Lots
Service Facilities
Reconditioning Centers
Collision Centers
Storage Facilities
Vehicles may regularly move between these locations.
Without a centralized vehicle visibility layer, each rooftop can become an operational silo.
One store may know a vehicle left.
Another may know it arrived.
Corporate management may have limited real-time physical context.
GPS can help create:
One Connected Inventory Layer
across the dealership organization.
Multi-Rooftop GPS Inventory Tracking
A scalable GPS platform should allow dealerships to organize vehicles logically.
For example:
Dealer Group
↓
Market
↓
Rooftop
↓
Department
↓
Vehicle
Permissions can then reflect employee responsibilities.
A salesperson may need access only to appropriate inventory at their location.
A used-car director may need visibility across multiple stores.
A group executive may need a higher-level view of the entire organization.
This is where dealership GPS inventory tracking becomes more than a map.
It becomes infrastructure for physical vehicle visibility across the dealer group.
GPS Can Connect Physical Inventory With Digital Inventory
Dealerships have spent years improving digital inventory.
Consumers can browse:
VIN
Trim
Color
Equipment
Photos
Pricing
Availability
But digital inventory ultimately represents physical assets.
A customer does not buy the database record.
They buy the vehicle.
That means a dealership needs both:
Digital Inventory Intelligence
and
Physical Vehicle Visibility.
GPS can help bridge the two.
The dealership knows:
This vehicle exists in our inventory system.
and:
This is where the equipped vehicle is reporting.
That connection can help dealership operations become more responsive.
AVAS GPS Creates the Physical Vehicle Connection
This is where AVAS fits into the inventory strategy.
AVAS GPS can provide the connection between the dealership and the physical vehicle.
That connection can initially support operational use cases such as:
Vehicle Location
Inventory Visibility
Lot Management
Geofencing
Multi-Rooftop Visibility
Demo and Loaner Management
Vehicle Protection
But AVAS is designed around a broader automotive lifecycle.
Once the vehicle is sold, that connection does not necessarily have to become irrelevant.
It can transition into a customer-facing connected ownership relationship.
That creates a progression:
Dealer Inventory
↓
AVAS GPS
↓
Inventory Visibility
↓
Vehicle Protection
↓
Vehicle Sale
↓
Connected Ownership
↓
Vehicle Intelligence
↓
Customer Intelligence
↓
AVAS Automotive Data Platform
That is the larger strategic difference between simply tracking dealership inventory and creating a connected vehicle ecosystem.
Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking: How New Car Dealers Can Manage Every Vehicle on the Lot
GPS Inventory Tracking Should Follow the Entire Dealership Workflow
The value of dealership GPS inventory tracking increases when vehicle location becomes part of everyday dealership operations rather than something employees use only when a vehicle goes missing.
From the moment a vehicle arrives until the moment it is delivered to a customer, that vehicle can move through numerous departments, employees, facilities, and workflows.
The dealership's digital systems document much of that process.
GPS adds the physical vehicle.
Consider the complete inventory lifecycle:
Vehicle Received
↓
Inspection / PDI
↓
Inventory
↓
Service / Accessories
↓
Detail
↓
Merchandising
↓
Sales Lot
↓
Test Drive
↓
Delivery Preparation
↓
Vehicle Sold
At virtually every stage, someone may need to answer:
Where is the vehicle?
A well-designed dealership GPS strategy makes that answer easier to obtain without requiring employees to rely on memory or manually document every parking-space change.
GPS Tracking During Vehicle Receiving and Check-In
Inventory visibility can begin as soon as a vehicle enters dealership operations.
When new vehicles arrive from transportation, employees typically verify the units against shipping and inventory records, inspect them for damage, process the vehicles, and prepare them for subsequent dealership workflows.
This creates an ideal point for establishing the vehicle's connected identity.
A standardized process could look like:
Vehicle Received
↓
VIN Verified
↓
GPS Device Assigned
↓
Device Installed or Activated
↓
VIN / Stock Number Associated
↓
Connectivity Verified
↓
Vehicle Added to Connected Inventory
Once the GPS device and vehicle are correctly associated, the dealership has a persistent connection to that physical asset.
That is important because a GPS system is only as useful as the accuracy of the underlying vehicle/device association.
If the wrong device is associated with the wrong VIN, the map may accurately locate a device while providing incorrect operational information.
For dealerships deploying GPS across hundreds or thousands of vehicles, disciplined provisioning and quality control are therefore essential.
VIN and Stock Number Should Become Searchable Vehicle Identities
Employees typically do not think about dealership inventory by GPS device serial number.
They think in terms of:
VIN
Stock Number
Year
Make
Model
and sometimes other dealership-specific identifiers.
A practical dealership vehicle location system should therefore make it easy for employees to identify the connected vehicle using information they already use.
For example:
A salesperson should not need to know:
Device ID 867XXXXXXXXXXXX
to find a vehicle.
They should be able to search:
Stock #T48291
or the appropriate VIN.
That seemingly small user-experience decision can make a major difference in adoption.
GPS should fit dealership operations.
Dealership operations should not have to reorganize themselves around GPS.
Use Case: Pre-Delivery Inspection and Accessory Installation
New vehicles frequently require work before reaching the front line.
Depending on the manufacturer and dealership, that may include:
Pre-delivery inspection
Software updates
Campaigns or recalls
Accessory installation
Window tint
Paint protection
Appearance products
Dealer-installed equipment
Detail
Some work occurs inside the dealership.
Other work may occur elsewhere.
The inventory system may show the vehicle as available or in process, but the salesperson trying to locate it may not know exactly where it is physically positioned.
GPS can add that context.
For example:
Stock #N4821
Inventory status: In Stock
Physical location: Service Facility
or:
Stock #N4821
Workflow status: Accessory Installation
Physical location: Off-Site Vendor
This demonstrates an important principle:
Workflow Status + Physical Location = Better Operational Context
GPS should not attempt to replace the workflow-management system.
It should make the physical vehicle visible within that workflow.
Off-Site Vendors Create an Important GPS Inventory Use Case
Not every dealership function happens on dealership property.
Vehicles may leave for:
Body work
Paint repair
Wheel repair
Dent repair
Upholstery
Window tint
Accessory installation
Specialty mechanical work
Photography
Transportation
Other third-party services
Once the vehicle leaves dealership property, employees have less direct physical visibility.
GPS can help answer:
Did the vehicle leave?
Where is it reporting?
Has it returned?
Is it still at the expected location?
This does not replace vendor management.
It provides another layer of asset visibility.
For high-volume used-vehicle departments or centralized reconditioning operations, that visibility can become especially useful.
Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking for Test Drives
Test drives create one of the most obvious moments when dealership inventory leaves direct dealership control.
The vehicle still belongs to the dealership, but it is temporarily being operated away from the lot.
GPS can provide authorized location visibility during that period.
Depending on the dealership's policies and system configuration, a GPS platform may help provide information related to:
Vehicle departure
Vehicle location
Vehicle movement
Geofence events
Vehicle return
Extended absence
Recovery if a vehicle is not returned
For routine test drives, employees should not need to continuously watch the vehicle.
The better model is again management by exception.
Normal test drive?
No action required.
Vehicle returns?
Normal.
Vehicle remains away substantially longer than expected?
Potential review.
Vehicle is reported stolen?
The dealership has another potential source of location information to support established procedures and law-enforcement coordination.
Demo Vehicles Require Longer-Term Visibility
Demo vehicles operate differently from normal retail inventory.
They may be assigned to:
Dealer principals
General managers
Sales managers
Other employees
Manufacturer representatives
Authorized drivers
A demo may leave dealership property every day.
That means simply alerting every time the vehicle exits a dealership geofence would create unnecessary noise.
A better GPS strategy recognizes the operational context of the vehicle.
The system should distinguish between:
Expected behavior
and
potential exceptions.
This illustrates why dealership GPS technology needs more than a map.
The platform should support different vehicle populations and workflows.
A retail inventory vehicle may have one set of rules.
A demo may have another.
A loaner may have another.
Connected technology becomes more useful when configuration reflects how the dealership actually operates.
GPS Tracking for Dealership Loaner Vehicles
Service loaners create another distinct inventory population.
Unlike retail inventory, loaners are expected to spend significant time away from dealership property.
The dealership still owns or controls the asset, however, and needs appropriate operational visibility.
GPS can help support situations where a loaner:
Is overdue
Cannot be located
Has not been returned
Appears outside an expected area
Needs to be recovered
Requires operational follow-up
Again, GPS does not replace the dealership's loaner-management system, agreements, or customer communication.
It answers the physical vehicle question:
Where is the equipped loaner reporting?
For large dealer groups operating significant service-loaner fleets, centralized visibility can help simplify asset oversight.
One Platform Can Support Multiple Vehicle Populations
This creates a broader dealership inventory concept.
A dealership's connected vehicle population does not have to mean only retail inventory.
It can include:
New Inventory
Used Inventory
Demos
Loaners
Courtesy Vehicles
Off-Site Vehicles
Vehicles in Reconditioning
Vehicles in Transit
Each population may have different operational rules.
That suggests a more sophisticated architecture:
Connected Vehicle
↓
Vehicle Type / Operational Role
↓
Appropriate Rules
↓
Relevant Events
↓
Exception
↓
Employee Action
Instead of treating every GPS-equipped vehicle identically, the dealership can organize the connected population around actual business operations.
GPS Can Improve Physical Inventory Audits
Dealerships periodically need to verify physical inventory.
The traditional process can require employees to physically walk dealership lots, compare vehicles with inventory records, scan VINs, or otherwise confirm assets.
GPS does not eliminate the need for appropriate physical audits, financial controls, or floorplan requirements.
But connected vehicle visibility can provide another operational tool.
For example, management might identify vehicles that:
Appear outside the expected dealership location
Have not reported from an expected area
Are associated with another rooftop
Are at an off-site vendor
Require physical verification
This creates a more targeted approach.
Instead of assuming every discrepancy means a missing vehicle, the dealership may have additional location context before beginning the physical investigation.
GPS Can Help Reconcile Digital and Physical Inventory
One of the more powerful inventory applications occurs when dealership systems disagree with the physical world.
Imagine the inventory system says:
Vehicle: In Stock
The GPS platform indicates:
Vehicle: Another Rooftop
That discrepancy deserves investigation.
Or:
Inventory system:
Vehicle: Store A
Connected vehicle:
Reporting from Reconditioning Center
That may be completely legitimate.
But it provides additional operational context.
Over time, dealerships can use connected vehicle information to help identify situations where:
Digital Assignment ≠ Physical Location
This does not automatically mean the inventory record is wrong.
It means the dealership has identified an exception worth understanding.
Aged Inventory Creates Another Opportunity for Better Visibility
Aged inventory is primarily a merchandising, pricing, market-demand, acquisition, and inventory-management issue.
GPS does not solve vehicle aging.
But physical visibility can remove unnecessary operational friction around vehicles that management is already trying to sell.
Consider an aged unit that needs:
Repricing
Re-merchandising
New photography
Mechanical review
Movement to a higher-traffic location
Transfer to another rooftop
Inclusion in a sales event
Management may decide:
Move these 25 aged units to the front line today.
The next operational question becomes:
Where are those 25 vehicles?
Connected inventory can help turn a management decision into execution more efficiently.
GPS Can Support Strategic Lot Placement
Physical lot placement matters in automotive retail.
Dealers intentionally position inventory based on:
Visibility
Vehicle type
Model
Age
Promotion
Sales event
Customer traffic
Delivery status
Operational requirements
GPS should not determine merchandising strategy.
But it can help employees execute the strategy.
For example:
Management identifies ten aged trucks for repositioning.
↓
Employees search the connected inventory.
↓
Vehicles are located.
↓
Units are moved.
↓
Management can verify the physical change.
This is a practical example of data supporting physical dealership execution.
Vehicle Transfers Become More Transparent Across Dealer Groups
Dealer groups frequently move vehicles between stores to match customer demand or inventory strategy.
A transfer may involve several states:
Requested
↓
Approved
↓
Vehicle Located
↓
Departed Store A
↓
In Transit
↓
Arrived Store B
↓
Inventory Reassigned
Traditional systems can manage the administrative workflow.
GPS can contribute physical movement information.
That creates a potentially useful distinction:
Transfer Status: Approved
does not necessarily mean:
Vehicle Physically Transferred.
Connected vehicle visibility helps provide another layer of confirmation.
Multi-Rooftop Inventory Can Become a Shared Connected Network
The opportunity becomes particularly interesting for larger dealer groups.
Imagine a group with:
12 rooftops
and:
4,000 connected vehicles.
Instead of treating each dealership as an isolated inventory population, the organization can potentially create a group-wide vehicle visibility layer.
A manager searching for a specific vehicle may determine that the unit is:
At another rooftop
At centralized recon
At a body shop
On an overflow lot
In transit
That can improve communication across the organization.
It can also reduce the dependence on phone calls such as:
"Do you actually have this car?"
The technology provides another source of operational truth.
Centralized Reconditioning Makes GPS Even More Relevant
Dealer groups increasingly look for efficiencies across shared operations.
When multiple rooftops feed vehicles into a centralized reconditioning facility, physical inventory movement becomes more complicated.
A vehicle may travel:
Store A
↓
Centralized Recon
↓
Body Facility
↓
Detail
↓
Photography
↓
Store B
The administrative systems can record workflow status.
GPS can contribute physical vehicle visibility across those transitions.
This creates a richer operational model:
Vehicle Identity
Workflow Status
Physical Location
Time in Stage
That final element—time—becomes especially important.
GPS Data Can Help Identify Operational Exceptions
Once vehicle location and movement data are available, dealerships can begin looking beyond individual vehicle searches.
The data can reveal operational patterns.
For example:
How long do vehicles typically remain at reconditioning?
Which vehicles have remained off-site longer than expected?
Which units have not moved despite being designated front-line ready?
Which transfers appear incomplete?
Which vehicles repeatedly move between departments?
Which connected units are reporting from unexpected locations?
Not every question can be answered by GPS alone.
But GPS can provide a physical movement layer that becomes more powerful when combined with dealership workflow information.
AI Can Help Dealerships Manage GPS Data by Exception
A dealer group with thousands of connected vehicles does not need thousands of notifications.
It needs prioritization.
This is where AI for automotive dealerships becomes relevant.
Instead of forcing managers to review raw vehicle activity, an AI-powered system can help surface unusual conditions.
For example:
3,842 Connected Inventory Vehicles
↓
3,796 Operating Normally
↓
46 Potential Exceptions
Then prioritize those exceptions:
14 vehicles reporting outside expected locations
11 vehicles at off-site facilities longer than expected
8 vehicle transfers requiring review
7 devices requiring connectivity attention
6 other operational exceptions
These numbers are illustrative, but the management concept is important.
AI should reduce complexity.
It should help answer:
What requires my attention?
From GPS Dashboard to Inventory Intelligence
A basic GPS platform might show hundreds of dots on a map.
That is useful for individual searches.
But dealership leadership needs more.
An inventory intelligence system should help translate connected vehicle information into questions such as:
Which vehicles are where they should not be?
Which vehicles have remained in one workflow stage too long?
Which rooftops generate the most inventory-location exceptions?
How frequently are vehicles transferred?
How long do transferred vehicles take to arrive?
Which vehicle populations create the most operational friction?
The progression becomes:
GPS Location
↓
Vehicle Movement
↓
Operational Context
↓
Exception Detection
↓
Inventory Intelligence
↓
Action
This is how GPS can become part of dealership decision-making rather than merely vehicle tracking.
Connected Vehicle Intelligence Expands the Operational Picture
The same vehicle connection used for inventory visibility can potentially contribute other vehicle information, depending on hardware capabilities, configuration, permissions, and program design.
That is where connected vehicle intelligence for dealerships becomes relevant.
The important difference is context.
GPS location answers:
Where is the vehicle?
Connected vehicle intelligence can contribute toward:
What is happening with the vehicle?
Dealership data can then help answer:
Why does that matter?
That progression is central to the AVAS strategy.
GPS Inventory Data Should Not Become Another Dealership Silo
Dealerships already operate numerous technology platforms.
The last thing management needs is another isolated system that creates information but cannot contribute to the dealership's broader data strategy.
GPS should therefore be considered part of a larger architecture.
Physical Vehicle
↓
AVAS GPS
↓
Vehicle Location & Connected Information
↓
Dealership Systems
↓
Customer & Vehicle Intelligence
↓
AVAS Automotive Data Platform
The value increases when vehicle information can participate in broader dealership intelligence.
This is where AVAS differentiates the connected inventory concept from a stand-alone vehicle map.
First-Party Data Begins With Knowing the Customer—and the Vehicle
Dealerships already generate valuable first-party information through transactions and customer interactions.
That can include:
Customer identity
Vehicle purchased
Service history
Transaction history
Marketing engagement
Trade history
Ownership lifecycle information
Connected vehicle technology can add appropriate vehicle context.
This creates another dimension to first-party data for dealerships.
The larger architecture becomes:
Customer Identity
Vehicle Identity
Transaction History
Service History
Engagement
Authorized Vehicle Intelligence
↓
Richer First-Party Data
Before the vehicle sells, GPS helps the dealership understand the inventory asset.
After the vehicle sells, the relationship can potentially transition into connected ownership.
That continuity is one of the most important elements of the AVAS model.
The Vehicle Does Not Stop Creating Value When It Leaves Inventory
Traditional inventory tracking naturally ends at the sale.
The dealership no longer owns the vehicle.
From an inventory-management perspective, that makes sense.
From a customer-lifecycle perspective, however, the sale is only the beginning.
With AVAS, the connected relationship can potentially transition:
Dealership Inventory
↓
Customer Purchase
↓
Connected Ownership
↓
Vehicle Protection
↓
Customer Engagement
↓
Service Opportunities
↓
Retention
↓
Future Trade
↓
Repeat Purchase
This means technology initially deployed to solve an inventory problem can become part of a much larger customer relationship.
That is a significant distinction.
Inventory GPS Can Become Connected Ownership Technology
Consider the value of one installed device.
Before Sale
It helps connect the dealership to the inventory vehicle.
During Inventory
It can support location, visibility, geofencing, operational workflows, and theft-recovery capabilities.
At Sale
The vehicle transitions to customer ownership.
After Sale
The connected relationship can potentially become a customer-facing vehicle protection and ownership experience.
That creates continuity rather than technological waste.
Instead of:
Install → Track Inventory → Sell Vehicle → Connection Ends
AVAS can support a model closer to:
Install → Manage Inventory → Protect Vehicle → Sell → Connect Customer → Support Ownership → Generate Intelligence
That dramatically expands the potential value of dealership GPS deployment.
Inventory Tracking Can Ultimately Contribute to Customer Lifecycle Intelligence
Once an appropriately authorized connected vehicle relationship continues after delivery, vehicle information can potentially contribute to customer lifecycle intelligence.
For example, depending on available information and permissions:
Mileage
Service History
may help identify:
Potential Service Opportunity
Or:
Ownership Duration
Mileage
Service History
Engagement
Equity Information Where Available
may contribute to:
Potential Trade Opportunity
The inventory connection becomes the starting point for a much longer data relationship.
From Physical Inventory to Automotive Business Intelligence
At the executive level, connected inventory can also contribute to broader performance analysis.
Leadership may want to understand:
Vehicle-location efficiency
Inventory exceptions
Transfer activity
Multi-rooftop vehicle movement
Off-site vehicle duration
Connected inventory penetration
Customer activation after sale
Connected customer population
Service opportunities generated
Retention outcomes
Revenue attribution
This is where GPS eventually connects with automotive business intelligence.
The progression becomes:
Physical Vehicle
↓
GPS Location
↓
Operational Intelligence
↓
Customer Connection
↓
Lifecycle Intelligence
↓
Business Intelligence
That progression is what makes AVAS materially different from viewing GPS solely as a lot-management tool.
AVAS Connects the Physical and Digital Dealership
Modern automotive retail increasingly operates in two environments.
There is the digital dealership:
Websites
CRM
DMS
Inventory systems
Marketing platforms
Analytics
AI
And there is the physical dealership:
Vehicles
Lots
Service lanes
Reconditioning
Test drives
Loaners
Customers
GPS creates a bridge between those worlds.
The vehicle is a physical asset.
AVAS creates a digital connection to it.
That connection can then participate in the dealership's larger technology ecosystem.
Physical Vehicle
↓
AVAS GPS
↓
Connected Vehicle
↓
AVAS Automotive Data Platform
↓
AI & Analytics
↓
Dealership Action
This is ultimately why dealership GPS inventory tracking deserves to be viewed as more than a tool for finding cars.
It can become the physical vehicle layer of the dealership's data strategy.
Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking: How New Car Dealers Can Manage Every Vehicle on the Lot — Part 3
What Should New Car Dealers Look for in a GPS Inventory Tracking System?
A dealership evaluating GPS inventory tracking should look beyond whether a device can display a vehicle on a map.
Location is the foundation.
The larger question is whether the technology can operate reliably at dealership scale and fit naturally into existing inventory processes.
A new car dealership may process hundreds or thousands of vehicles annually. A dealer group may manage thousands of vehicles simultaneously across multiple rooftops, storage lots, reconditioning facilities, service departments, and other locations.
Small inefficiencies can therefore become large problems.
The right dealership GPS inventory tracking system should make vehicle management simpler—not introduce another complicated workflow.
Dealers should evaluate the complete system across several areas:
Hardware reliability
Installation
Vehicle identification
GPS reporting
Inventory search
Geofencing
User permissions
Multi-rooftop administration
Remote device management
APIs and integrations
Security
Customer transition after sale
Connected vehicle intelligence
AI and analytics
Scalability
Support
Most importantly, dealerships should evaluate what happens to the technology after the inventory vehicle becomes a customer vehicle.
That is where the AVAS approach becomes particularly different.
Hardware Reliability Matters at Dealership Scale
A dealership GPS program begins with hardware.
If the physical connection to the vehicle is unreliable, the software experience will suffer regardless of how sophisticated the platform becomes.
Dealers should consider factors such as:
Cellular Connectivity
Can the device reliably communicate across the dealership's expected operating environment?
GNSS/GPS Performance
Can the device obtain useful location information under normal operating conditions?
Power Management
How does the device behave when the vehicle is stationary for extended periods?
Device Health
Can administrators identify devices that stop reporting or require attention?
Remote Management
Can configuration or firmware changes be performed remotely when supported?
Durability
Is the hardware suitable for automotive use?
A dealership deploying thousands of devices should not have to physically touch every unit whenever a configuration change is required.
Remote device management becomes increasingly important as the connected population grows.
Installation Should Be Designed Around Dealership Volume
Installation is another critical consideration.
The dealership may process:
20 vehicles
or:
2,000 vehicles.
The underlying process still needs to be repeatable.
A scalable workflow could look like:
Vehicle Received
↓
Device Assigned
↓
Installation Completed
↓
VIN / Stock Number Associated
↓
Connectivity Confirmed
↓
Vehicle Appears in AVAS
↓
Quality Check Completed
The dealership should also establish responsibility.
Who installs the device?
Who verifies it?
Who resolves a failed installation?
Who corrects an incorrect VIN/device association?
Who manages replacement hardware?
Who handles the transition when the vehicle is sold?
These questions become increasingly important as deployment volume increases.
Searchability Should Match How Dealership Employees Work
The best technology tends to disappear into the workflow.
Employees should not need to learn technical device identifiers simply to locate a vehicle.
Search should revolve around information dealership personnel recognize, such as:
VIN
Stock number
Vehicle information
Appropriate dealership identifiers
A salesperson should be able to think:
"I need stock #N49217."
Search.
Locate.
Retrieve.
That is far more practical than asking employees to understand the underlying telematics hardware.
The complexity should remain behind the scenes.
GPS Reporting Should Balance Visibility and Operational Needs
Dealers should also understand how their GPS devices report.
Different vehicle populations may require different behavior.
A retail inventory vehicle sitting stationary for several days does not necessarily require the same reporting profile as:
A vehicle on a test drive
A vehicle in transit
A loaner
A demo
A vehicle involved in a recovery event
A flexible GPS architecture can allow reporting behavior to reflect the use case.
For example:
Stationary Inventory
Lower-frequency reporting appropriate to the application.
Vehicle Moving
More frequent location information.
Recovery Situation
A higher-frequency tracking profile where supported and appropriate.
This type of configuration helps turn the GPS device into an intelligent connected asset rather than a device that reports identically regardless of circumstances.
Dealerships Should Look for Remote Device Management
Device management is easy when the dealership has 20 connected vehicles.
It becomes a different problem at 20,000.
A scalable dealership GPS strategy should consider the ability to remotely manage:
Device configuration
Reporting profiles
Firmware
Device health
Connectivity
Groups
Operational settings
Over-the-air functionality can become especially valuable.
Without remote management, a configuration change across thousands of installed vehicles could potentially require significant manual intervention.
With centralized management, the technology can scale more efficiently.
User Permissions Matter for Dealer Groups
Not every employee should necessarily see every connected vehicle.
A dealership GPS platform should support appropriate access controls.
For example:
Salesperson
Relevant inventory access.
Sales Manager
Broader rooftop visibility.
Inventory Manager
Inventory-management functionality.
General Manager
Rooftop-level oversight.
Dealer Group Executive
Authorized multi-rooftop visibility.
System Administrator
Platform and device administration.
The exact structure will vary by dealership.
The principle remains:
Access should follow business responsibility.
This becomes particularly important when the connected vehicle relationship continues after the sale and customer information becomes involved.
APIs and Integrations Can Increase the Value of GPS
Dealership technology should increasingly be evaluated based on how well systems can work together.
A GPS platform that exists entirely by itself may solve vehicle location.
A connected platform capable of participating in a larger dealership data ecosystem can potentially solve much more.
Relevant integration areas may include:
Inventory platforms
CRM systems
Dealer management systems
Customer data platforms
Service systems
Consumer applications
Marketing automation
Analytics
Executive dashboards
AI systems
Not every integration needs to happen on day one.
But the architecture should support future growth.
A dealer should ask:
"If our technology strategy changes three years from now, can this platform participate in it?"
That is particularly important when GPS hardware may remain installed in vehicles for extended periods.
Security and Privacy Need to Be Designed Into the Program
Location information deserves appropriate safeguards.
A dealership should establish policies and technology controls governing:
Authorized access
User authentication
Employee permissions
Customer disclosures
Consent where applicable
Data retention
Security
Privacy requests
Incident procedures
The objective should never be to collect as much information as technologically possible.
The objective is to use appropriate information for legitimate dealership and customer purposes.
This becomes increasingly important when the relationship transitions from dealership-owned inventory to a customer-owned vehicle.
Clear separation between inventory operations and post-sale customer programs should therefore be built into the process.
GPS Inventory Tracking Should Be Measured
Dealers should also establish what success looks like.
Without measurement, GPS can easily become another technology expense.
Potential inventory-related KPIs include:
Average Vehicle Search Time
How long does it take employees to locate inventory?
Inventory Location Exceptions
How often are vehicles found outside expected areas?
Off-Site Vehicle Duration
How long do vehicles remain at external facilities?
Transfer Completion Time
How long does it take inventory to move between rooftops?
Device Connectivity
What percentage of expected connected vehicles are reporting properly?
Connected Inventory Penetration
What percentage of eligible inventory is connected?
Recovery Outcomes
When appropriate recovery events occur, what outcomes are achieved?
Customer Transition
What percentage of eligible sold vehicles transition into the connected customer program?
The last metric is particularly important to AVAS.
It measures whether the GPS investment continues producing value after the inventory lifecycle ends.
Measuring the ROI of Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking
The financial value of GPS inventory tracking can come from several areas.
Employee Productivity
Reduce unnecessary time spent searching for vehicles.
Customer Experience
Help salespeople retrieve requested vehicles more efficiently.
Inventory Operations
Improve visibility across lots, departments, vendors, and rooftops.
Vehicle Protection
Add GPS location capabilities to the dealership's broader security and recovery strategy.
Dealer Group Efficiency
Create centralized vehicle visibility across multiple locations.
Customer-Facing Product Value
Transition eligible connected vehicles into a post-sale customer program.
Longer-Term Customer Intelligence
Use appropriate connected vehicle information as part of service, retention, and future sales strategies.
The total equation becomes broader than:
GPS Cost vs. Employee Time Saved
A more complete framework is:
Operational Value
Risk-Management Value
Customer Product Value
Connected Ownership Value
Service & Retention Value
Future Sales Value
versus:
Hardware + Installation + Connectivity + Platform Cost
This is the business case dealership executives should evaluate.
Use Case: A Connected New Car Dealership
Imagine a hypothetical franchise dealership carrying 450 vehicles.
Most eligible inventory is equipped with AVAS.
A customer arrives after seeing a specific SUV online.
The salesperson searches the stock number and locates the vehicle.
The vehicle is retrieved for the test drive.
After the sale, the appropriate connected relationship transitions into the customer program.
Months later, authorized vehicle information can potentially contribute context to ownership engagement.
Over time, the dealership can combine appropriate connected vehicle signals with:
Customer information
Service history
Purchase history
Engagement
Ownership duration
Other available dealership data
The relationship has progressed from:
Finding an SUV on the lot
to:
maintaining a connected relationship with the person who purchased it.
That is the AVAS model.
GPS Inventory Tracking Can Become the First Step in a Customer Data Strategy
This is one of the most important concepts in this article.
GPS inventory tracking begins with an asset.
The dealership owns the vehicle.
But when that asset sells, it becomes connected to a customer.
That transition creates a valuable data relationship:
Vehicle Identity
↓
Customer Identity
↓
Ownership Relationship
↓
Service Relationship
↓
Engagement
↓
Future Vehicle Relationship
An Automotive Customer Data Platform (CDP) can help bring those customer relationships together.
The GPS connection contributes vehicle context.
The CDP contributes customer context.
AVAS can bring the two together.
Predictive Analytics Can Extend the Value Beyond Inventory
Once customer and vehicle information is connected appropriately, the dealership can begin asking forward-looking questions.
Instead of only:
Where is this vehicle?
the dealership may eventually ask:
Which customers may be approaching service needs?
Which ownership relationships show signs of declining engagement?
Which customers may be approaching another vehicle decision?
That is where predictive analytics for dealerships becomes relevant.
This is not because GPS alone predicts customer behavior.
It does not.
The opportunity comes from combining multiple signals.
Vehicle Information
Customer Information
Transaction History
Service History
Engagement
↓
Predictive Intelligence
That distinction keeps the AVAS value proposition grounded while still demonstrating the larger technology opportunity.
AVAS Turns GPS Inventory Tracking Into a Connected Vehicle Strategy
The easiest way to understand the AVAS difference is to compare two approaches.
Traditional Inventory GPS Approach
Install GPS
↓
Locate Inventory
↓
Vehicle Sells
↓
Inventory Use Case Ends
AVAS Connected Vehicle Approach
Install AVAS GPS
↓
Locate & Manage Inventory
↓
Support Vehicle Protection
↓
Vehicle Sells
↓
Transition to Connected Ownership
↓
Maintain Customer Connection
↓
Develop Authorized Vehicle Intelligence
↓
Combine With Customer Data
↓
Apply AI & Predictive Analytics
↓
Identify Relevant Opportunities
↓
Measure Dealership Outcomes
The first model solves an inventory problem.
The second model starts with an inventory problem and builds a longer-term customer and vehicle strategy around the same connection.
Why AVAS for Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking?
AVAS is designed specifically around automotive dealership use cases.
For dealerships, that means GPS can support immediate operational requirements while also becoming part of a larger data strategy.
The AVAS opportunity includes:
Vehicle Visibility
Help authorized dealership employees locate connected inventory.
Lot Management
Improve physical visibility across dealership locations.
Multi-Rooftop Operations
Create a connected inventory layer across dealership groups.
Geofencing
Provide additional context around vehicle movement and defined locations.
Vehicle Protection
Support appropriate theft-recovery and asset-protection workflows.
Connected Ownership
Transition the relationship beyond the vehicle sale.
Vehicle Intelligence
Create additional context from the connected vehicle relationship where supported and appropriately authorized.
Customer Intelligence
Connect vehicle context with the customer relationship.
AI
Help identify meaningful patterns and exceptions across large connected populations.
Predictive Analytics
Help dealerships identify potential future opportunities using multiple customer and vehicle signals.
Business Intelligence
Give leadership better visibility into operational and customer outcomes.
This makes AVAS more than a dealership inventory map.
It creates a pathway from the physical vehicle to the dealership's broader intelligence strategy.
From the Dealership Lot to the AVAS Automotive Data Platform
The complete architecture can be visualized simply:
Physical Vehicle
↓
AVAS GPS
↓
Dealership Inventory Visibility
↓
Connected Vehicle
↓
Vehicle Intelligence
Customer & Dealership Data
↓
AVAS Automotive Data Platform
↓
AI + Predictive Analytics
↓
Service + Retention + Sales Intelligence
↓
Dealership Action
↓
Revenue Attribution
This is where the inventory use case connects with the larger AVAS mission.
The vehicle sitting on the lot today may become a customer relationship lasting years.
The technology strategy should account for both.
Conclusion: Know Where Every Vehicle Is—and Create More Value From the Connection
For new and used car dealers, physical inventory remains one of the dealership's largest and most valuable assets.
Yet vehicles constantly move between lots, departments, employees, vendors, service facilities, reconditioning centers, test drives, demos, loaner assignments, and other rooftops.
Traditional dealership systems are essential for understanding inventory records.
GPS adds something different:
physical vehicle visibility.
A strong dealership GPS inventory tracking strategy can help dealerships:
Locate vehicles faster
Reduce unnecessary vehicle searches
Improve lot visibility
Manage overflow inventory
Monitor appropriate vehicle movement
Improve multi-rooftop visibility
Support dealer trades and transfers
Maintain visibility into off-site vehicles
Manage demos and loaners
Support inventory audits
Identify operational exceptions
Add another layer to vehicle protection
But AVAS takes the strategy further.
The GPS connection established while the vehicle is inventory can become the beginning of a much longer relationship.
Inventory → Connected Vehicle → Customer → Ownership → Intelligence → Opportunity
That allows the dealership to think beyond:
"Where is my vehicle?"
and eventually begin asking:
"How can this vehicle connection create more value for the dealership and customer?"
AVAS combines dealership GPS capabilities with connected ownership, customer and vehicle intelligence, AI, predictive analytics, and business intelligence through the AVAS Automotive Data Platform.
For dealerships that want more than another inventory tracking tool, AVAS provides a pathway from physical vehicle visibility to a broader connected automotive data strategy.
Learn more about AVAS and how connected vehicle technology can become part of your dealership's customer and data strategy:
Frequently Asked Questions About Dealership GPS Inventory Tracking
What is dealership GPS inventory tracking?
Dealership GPS inventory tracking uses connected GPS technology and software to help authorized dealership employees locate and manage equipped vehicles across dealership lots, departments, storage facilities, off-site locations, and multiple rooftops.
How does GPS inventory tracking work for car dealerships?
A GPS device is associated with a specific dealership vehicle, typically using information such as the VIN or stock number. Authorized employees can then use the dealership's GPS platform to help identify the equipped vehicle's reported location and relevant movement information.
Why do new car dealerships need GPS inventory tracking?
New car dealerships can manage hundreds of high-value vehicles that frequently move between receiving, service, detail, sales lots, test drives, storage, and other locations. GPS can provide another layer of physical vehicle visibility.
Can GPS help salespeople find cars on a dealership lot?
Yes. When an equipped vehicle is properly associated with dealership inventory, authorized employees can use the GPS platform to help locate it rather than relying solely on physical searches or employee memory.
Does GPS replace a dealership inventory-management system?
No. Inventory-management systems and GPS solve different problems. An inventory system manages vehicle records, merchandising, pricing, and related business information. GPS adds physical vehicle-location information.
Can dealerships track vehicles at off-site locations?
GPS can help provide authorized location visibility for properly equipped vehicles at locations such as overflow lots, reconditioning facilities, body shops, storage areas, and other authorized facilities, subject to device connectivity and system capabilities.
Can dealerships use GPS for dealer trades?
GPS can provide physical vehicle-location information that can complement a dealership's existing dealer-trade and transfer processes.
Can GPS track dealership demo vehicles?
Yes. Properly configured GPS technology can provide authorized visibility into equipped dealership-owned demo vehicles while supporting operational policies appropriate to that vehicle population.
Can dealerships track service loaners with GPS?
GPS can provide another layer of authorized asset visibility for dealership-owned loaner and courtesy vehicles. It should complement the dealership's existing loaner-management procedures and customer agreements.
What is geofencing for dealership inventory?
Geofencing creates virtual geographic boundaries around locations such as dealerships, storage lots, reconditioning centers, or other rooftops. Depending on configuration, vehicle entry or departure can create relevant events.
Can GPS help with dealership inventory audits?
GPS does not replace required physical audits or financial controls, but connected vehicle-location information can provide additional context when reconciling physical and digital inventory.
Can GPS help manage inventory across multiple dealerships?
Yes. A scalable dealership GPS platform can provide authorized vehicle visibility across multiple rooftops, overflow lots, service facilities, reconditioning centers, and other locations.
What should dealers look for in a GPS inventory tracking system?
Dealers should consider location performance, hardware reliability, installation, inventory search, geofencing, reporting, remote device management, user permissions, multi-rooftop administration, APIs, integrations, security, scalability, customer transition, and support.
What makes AVAS different from basic dealership inventory tracking?
AVAS can extend the GPS connection beyond inventory location. The vehicle connection can support dealership operations before sale and potentially transition into connected ownership, customer and vehicle intelligence, AI, predictive analytics, and the AVAS Automotive Data Platform after sale.
Learn more about the AVAS Automotive Data Platform: AVAS Automotive Data Platform
👉 Book a demo to see how AVAS Automotive Data Platform can impact your Dealerships retention.
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