GM is expanding its regional fulfillment model, which was originally developed to optimize EV inventory, to cover a larger area and inventory more vehicles. The program began in 2022 with the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV to keep inventory near the dealerships without taking up floor space.
“If a customer has landed on a certain brand and a certain model and they didn’t happen to see it at their local dealership, how could we help facilitate and get that vehicle in their view and then be able to get it to them as quickly as possible?” GM retail innovation operations director Bob Krapes told Automotive News. “At the same time, it’s allowing the dealers and General Motors to be more efficient with our inventory.” According to Krapes, shipping a car from a fulfillment center to a dealership only takes about four days.
GM currently has six fulfillment centers in the U.S.: two in California and one each in Michigan, New York, Texas, and Georgia. These centers cover dealerships in 33 states, and GM has set a goal to expand that availability to all 48 contiguous states by adding new fulfillment centers in Illinois and Colorado.
“The biggest enterprisewide cost savings will come as we and the dealers change how we handle inventory, which means we’re reducing how much we’re … incentivizing vehicles that were ordered that aren’t popular,” GM president Mark Reuss said in 2022 while touting that GM’s digital retailing platform can save the company $2,000 per vehicle. “At the same time, we’ll improve the customer experience by delivering the exact vehicles our customers want quickly and efficiently.”
While GM’s regional fulfillment model is currently just for EVs, the General is planning on adding the first ICE model to the program, starting with the New York location. It will be Chevy’s fastest-turning model: the Chevy Traverse. With the third-generation Traverse being so popular, having more options to draw from out of GM-owned fulfillment centers is beneficial to both dealers and customers.
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So once the vehicle is built, whose “books” is it put on?
GM’s or the Dealer’s?
It stays on GM’s books until a dealer puts in a fulfillment request. Vehicle is then re-invoiced to that dealer.
“…re-invoiced…”??
that means billed to the dealer, it is built with GM assigned as the dealer for accounting and inventorying purposes.
SORRY..thats wrong. GM does not build ANY car for “inventory” Every car GM builds is sold – to a dealer. and invoiced shortly after production. They have a 30 day “float” that gives transit time to arrive, but the ol’ invoice floorplan kicks in after 30 days – regardless when you receive it on the lot.
Did you not read the story Mark? They are building them and placing them at “Fulfillment Centers” across the country.
Again, GM ignores the ICE Customer. My dealer has been looking for a 2025 RS Equinox or Elevation Terrain in white with the extra packages with no luck.
I guess I’ll need to look at a foreign brand.
And of course, Chevy doesn’t produce a Summitt White RS Equinox, so I need to spend another $995 to get a white 2025 RS Equinox!
Fancy name for “warehousing cars” you can’t sell.
exactly
GM did something like this back in the 90’s for Cadillac dealers called Custom Express Delivery or CXD. The intention was to do this very same thing, it saved dealers a ton on floorplan expense while they could also accomodate the customers desire for a vehicle a bit different from what the dealer had in stock. It would take 10 to 14 days for the requested vehicle to arrive, however the problem was that GM had a HUGE stockpile of Cadillacs sitting in storage waiting to be tagged, costing them a fortune. Also customers are an impatient bunch generally and they want what they want RIGHT NOW! So they would just go down the street to the next dealer trying to find it as opposed to that relatively short waiting time compared to the sold order process that takes 8 to 10 weeks. They abandoned it after the first year or so. We would only keep a handful on the lot eating floorplan. Plus at that time the Cadillac division was WAY over-dealered and had probably more than twice as many stores as they do now.
That sounds like the “lightning pool” that we used in the 70’s for heavy duty trucks from plant 2 in Pontiac. They were all painted white and ready to ship. Of course that was a good way to keep the plant running at full speed and efficiency.
Those were on GM’s books until invoiced.
ANOTHER WORD FOR “STORAGE YARD FOR VEHICLES NO ONE WANTS”.
This article is clearly inaccurate. I have been told many time in GM Authority comments that the new Traverse is very unpopular and won’t sell well because it doesn’t have a V6. There is no way a large crossover like the Traverse could possibly be selling well without a V6 or V8. Maybe even add a carburetor to the V8 and then the Traverse will really sell.