An oft-told story of 2020 was how the pandemic brought back into focus the importance of fixed operations at franchised dealerships. The pandemic forced states to temporarily close businesses, including auto sales departments across the country. But service departments were considered essential and remained open, bringing in money to keep dealerships afloat until restrictions eased later in the year.
Ian Grace, senior director of partner performance at automotiveMastermind, thinks the crisis that hits the industry in 2021 will be a lack of vehicle inventory.
Blame microchip shortages and other supply chain issues that are pinching production. And that could result in a sort of dealership déjà vu.
"It's causing many [dealers] to kind of go back to that 2020 view of the importance of the service drive," Grace says.
In addition to more repair and warranty work, Grace says the service drive could help the dealership bottom line by being "a source of i…