Used-vehicle inventory remains in short supply, which is why vAuto is launching a new product designed to help dealers look beyond traditional channels to source vehicles.

Global Search, an enhancement to vAuto’s flagship ProfitTime GPS inventory management system, is designed to make it easier for dealers to find and acquire the right vehicles across numerous channels to make sure the inventory they bring in fits their strategy and enables them to generate the best ROI.

“At vAuto, we are committed to helping dealers maximize returns on every vehicle, and one of the most effective ways to do that is to help them acquire the right vehicles at the right prices,” said Derek Hansen, vice president of operations, inventory management solutions, for vAuto’s parent company, Cox Automotive.

“Global Search helps them do that and more by bringing together their dealership’s strategy with the largest pool of vehicles from multiple sources and actionable insights that only vAuto can provide.”

The company said it enables dealers to prioritize and purchase vehicles more strategically, establish the right exit strategy and manage their performance across multiple channels from a single dashboard.

Global Search offers:

Strategic omnichannel sourcing: The tool shows highly targeted vehicles from a pool of nearly 1 million listings from seven real-time sources: auctions, the dealer’s service drive, Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, lease returns, private party listings, missed appraisals and inventory from a group’s sister stores. Dealers can filter to see vehicles across all sources or in a specific channel.

Customization: Dealers can use unique filters like market days’ supply, strategy actions necessary to fill holes in their inventory, ProfitTime score and more to generate relevant results that include only the vehicles most likely to be a profitable fit for their individual store’s strategy. They can also narrow and refine their searches and save them.

Consistency and efficiency: Global Search is designed to help dealers standardize their acquisition process by establishing pricing parameters and an approach for every channel being mined to ensure everyone stays on strategy and invests their valuable time only on the vehicles with the highest potential.

Performance managers: ProfitTime GPS clients are supported by a network of trained performance managers who work with them on an ongoing basis to optimize their performance and results.

Current ProfitTime GPS dealers will have access to Global Search at no additional cost. The company said Global Search users who also use Stockwave, vAuto’s auction acquisition software, will see additional insights that follow vehicles to the point of purchase, including live Simulcast auctions.