INDIANAPOLIS — Commercial vehicle OEMs are on the front lines with dealers working to reduce inventory levels and bring stability to the market.
Truck inventory, while steadily falling in recent months, is still too high for many dealers as they work to liquidate used vehicles to make way for the new. Used medium-duty truck inventory, for instance, rose 20.3% year over year in February, according to Sandhills Global.
OEMs must help dealers “manage transition” when launching new products, Dave Sowers, director of operations at Ram Professional, told Equipment Finance News today during Work Truck Week 2025.
“For high-volume products, we try to keep the right amount at the dealers,” he said. “So, for our light-duty, which is our highest-volume product, we’ve been able to reduce inventory significantly across the board. That reduces costs for the dealers in terms of floorplan expense and those types of things. It reduces other holding costs that they have just with lot management and all that kind of stuff.”
Inventory management of heavy-duty trucks and vans may be more difficult due to greater variation within product lines, Sowers said.
“The complexity of the lineup drives the necessity to have a certain level of inventory,” he said. “So, for us, it’s a real balance there.”
Dealers, OEMs and captives must collaborate and be aligned with their goals to obtain a healthy inventory mix, Tom Gmahle, manager of van and fleet finance at Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (MBFS), told EFN.
“We constantly converse with our dealer board,” he said. “And MBFS is cohabited with Mercedes-Benz USA in the same building, so it’s easy for us to combine and talk. And we bring the dealers in monthly to see the concerns — obviously, daily reporting, day supply, etc. They tell us what they need and ask, ‘How do we spend our dollars? What’s the best way?’ So, it’s very cohesive.”
The third annual Equipment Finance Connect at the JW Marriott Nashville on May 14-15, 2025, is the only event for both equipment dealers and finance providers. Learn more and register here.
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