Auto dealers separating commercial finance ops from retail to help fleets

Auto dealers are increasingly separating commercial vehicle finance, sales and service operations into a distinct business to cater to fleet operators’ unique needs.  

Seminole, Fla.-based Suncoast Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram is one dealer that had to “draw the line in the sand” between its retail and commercial segments because “running everything as one book” was no longer sufficient, Fleet Director Jason Gillespie said in a panel discussion during the virtual Commercial Vehicle Business Summit hosted by Work Truck Solutions.  

“I had a conversation with my owners. I told them, ‘Guys, we have to separate the books.’ We’ve got to have two separate departments, and it made a big difference.”  

— Jason Gillespie, Fleet Director, Suncoast Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram

While the decision led to some contentious discussions with retail desk managers who were “no longer getting paid in my department,” the dealer has benefited because commercial customers require specialized knowledge of finance, upfitting and fleet management, Gillespie said.  

For example, retail staff possessed minimal knowledge of the Ram ProMaster lineup, resulting in low sales of the commercial vans, he said. Even a small team of devoted commercial vehicle specialists can make a considerable difference, he added. 

“I don’t ever have a commercial customer talk to my retail F&I guys,” Gillespie said. “We have our own. … We do the whole [deal review] packet.” 

Warren, Mich.-based Hamilton Chevrolet also has recognized that commercial customers’ needs are “completely different” from retail, Fleet and Commercial Truck Manager Scott Sodergren said during the panel.  

For example, TRAC leases — deals in which a lessee and lessor agree on a predetermined residual value — are specialized financing arrangements that should be handled by commercial experts, Sodergren said.  

Additionally, topics such as payload and towing capacity as well as the commercial applications for a vehicle “aren’t things that a retail salesperson would be able to talk about,” he said.  

Reducing downtime  

About 54% of fleet managers say maintaining assets to avoid downtime is their top operational priority, according to a May report by fleet management solutions and compliance firm J.J. Keller & Associates.  

For this reason, dealers are investing more in their service departments.  

Suncoast, for one, has roughly 70 service bays after a “huge expansion,” with one-third of service bays reserved for commercial customers, Gillespie said. It also maintains about 20 commercial-only loaner vehicles, he added. 

The dealer uses telematics to be more proactive about parts and service, he said.  

“If you have 100 trucks that have the same problem, we can have all the parts ahead of time,” Gillespie said. “Then we can say, ‘Hey, if it’s a big job, let’s cycle them in five at a time, and we’ll put five or 15 loaner trucks out.'”  

Suncoast is beginning to explore options for overnight deliveries if customers need their vehicles returned for a job the next day.  

“That’s part of our future in our business, and we’re definitely seeing it gain that way,” he said.  

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