The pictures above were from the same dealers lot and there were even more empty chassis here. This is all too common at many commercial truck stores--especially medium duty truck stores. I could see this as opportunity because of the sheer volume of chassis available right away, yet I see this as a serious flooring issue and a sales issue. I see the dealer looking at this and wondering what is going on with his money.
To me this is like building a housing project of 35 homes, except only the foundations are built to sell from. This isn't an intangible market any more than the truck market. I have stocked empty chassis, but in quantities typically not exceeding 2-4 units and then only rarely.
Some dealers I have known think that an empty chassis is good for their bottom line. I argue the opposite. It is very bad for the bottom line because dollars are tied up with no possible way to sell the unit without a body. It is an incomplete unit. They might as well stock cars without any engine and transmission.
Installing a body gives a good opportunity to make a sale--on purpose. There is the case for the extremely rare person who has a body to transfer to a new chassis. No big deal, trade for a chassis or get one out of a pool. In the meantime, the dealers money isn't tied up in a car with no engine or a foundation with no house.
What is even more interesting to me is seeing ads in the Big Truck Trader and other places with an empty chassis being offered. This is a total waste of advertising money to me. An empty chassis might be trade bait, but little else.
The remedy of course, is to install a body. With a complete unit, you now have something to sell--and, what's more important, it is something to sell with gross profit in it. I would now have a unit that I can market, demonstrate, put into a display, drive as a demo, and the most important thing of all: deliver it to a customer this very minute, deposit the contract and go sell another one. A somewhat faster turn, less expense and higher profits makes a happier, healthier commercial truck department.
To me this is like building a housing project of 35 homes, except only the foundations are built to sell from. This isn't an intangible market any more than the truck market. I have stocked empty chassis, but in quantities typically not exceeding 2-4 units and then only rarely.
Some dealers I have known think that an empty chassis is good for their bottom line. I argue the opposite. It is very bad for the bottom line because dollars are tied up with no possible way to sell the unit without a body. It is an incomplete unit. They might as well stock cars without any engine and transmission.
Installing a body gives a good opportunity to make a sale--on purpose. There is the case for the extremely rare person who has a body to transfer to a new chassis. No big deal, trade for a chassis or get one out of a pool. In the meantime, the dealers money isn't tied up in a car with no engine or a foundation with no house.
What is even more interesting to me is seeing ads in the Big Truck Trader and other places with an empty chassis being offered. This is a total waste of advertising money to me. An empty chassis might be trade bait, but little else.
The remedy of course, is to install a body. With a complete unit, you now have something to sell--and, what's more important, it is something to sell with gross profit in it. I would now have a unit that I can market, demonstrate, put into a display, drive as a demo, and the most important thing of all: deliver it to a customer this very minute, deposit the contract and go sell another one. A somewhat faster turn, less expense and higher profits makes a happier, healthier commercial truck department.
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