Black Book Trade-In vs vAuto Conquest
Black Book on Black Book Trade-In: A trade-in valuation product. vAuto on vAuto Conquest: Market insights for new cars.
Black Book's trade-in tools and vAuto Conquest share a market data foundation but answer different questions, and a store should decide which question it needs answered first: what to offer on a customer's car or what to charge for one on its own lot.
Choosing between Black Book Trade-In and vAuto Conquest
Black Book describes trade-in tools built on live market data, drawing on wholesale sales, retail trends, auction results, depreciation patterns and local demand, that let a customer generate a trade-in value from a set of customizable questions, and its data appears on manufacturer and dealer sites. vAuto describes Conquest as a new-vehicle inventory tool that applies a market-based approach to stocking, pricing and merchandising, with competitor inventory and pricing, recommendations for each VIN, factory rebates and incentives applied across listings, trade decisions and an enterprise dashboard for groups.
What to check before you choose
The first is mainly about a used vehicle a customer owns. The second is mainly about a new vehicle the dealer holds.
A used car manager would look at Black Book to set trade values, while a new car manager would look at Conquest to price and stock. They would meet only in a store that uses the same provider family for both.
For Black Book, ask how the value is generated, how often the data updates, how the questions and thresholds are tuned and what the customer sees on the website. Ask how it compares with other valuation sources for the same vehicles. For vAuto Conquest, ask how competitor pricing is sourced, how often it refreshes, how rebates are applied and who sets the final price.
Ask about conditions. A web value is only a range until a person inspects the car, so ask how each tool handles condition and what the store should say to the customer at the desk. Ask what the tool does when a car has an unusual option or an accident history.
Ask about fees and contracts. Valuation data is often licensed through other products, so ask what you pay directly and what is bundled. Ask who owns the customer data from a trade widget.
Pick ten recent trades and ten recent new-car pricing decisions. Run them through each tool and compare with what the market paid. Keep the results.
Finally, decide who in the store owns each number. A trade value is a promise to a customer, and a new-car price is a promise to the market.
Name the manager who signs off on each, and write down the rule for overrides. Review a sample of overrides each month and ask why they happened.
A tool is only as disciplined as the process around it. Keep the rule where staff can read it.
Black Book Trade-In
Black Book describes it this way: A trade-in valuation product.
Automotive data and valuation provider serving dealers, lenders and manufacturers, in business since 1955.
Black Book describes itself as an automotive data and analytics provider that has supported dealers, auto finance companies, lenders and manufacturers since 1955. Its site states that Black Book is a registered trademark of Hearst Business Media Corporation, and lists a Canadian Black Book counterpart.
Who it says it serves: Dealers, auto finance companies, lenders and OEMs.
Black Book Data and Mobile Apps | Buy Now and Fuel Your Business: Black Book data and mobile apps available for purchase - flexible solutions also available to find what makes the most sense for your business.
Sections on that page: Fuel Your Business; Industry; Solution; Black Book Cherry; Used Car - Price Point; Residual Studies; Asset Verification Tool; CPI (Cars of Particular Interest) Web API.
3 Essential Tools Auto Dealers Need to Stay Competitive - Black Book: Discover the top 3 tools every auto dealer needs to stay ahead in today’s fast-changing market. Learn how Black Book Values, Cherry, and Residual Value Forecasts drive smarter decisions.
Sections on that page: 3 Essential Tools Auto Dealers Need to Stay Competitive; 1. Black Book Values; 2. Black Book Cherry; 3. Black Book Residual Value Forecasts; Stay Ahead With Black Book; Latest Articles.
vAuto Conquest
vAuto describes it this way: Market insights for new cars.
Conquest is vAuto's new-vehicle inventory and pricing tool, extending vAuto's market-based approach from used cars to new-car stocking, pricing and incentives. Confirm how incentive and rebate data is sourced and kept current for the dealer's brands.
vAuto describes itself as a suite of solutions for the full life cycle of new and used inventory. Its homepage groups the work into sourcing, appraisal, stocking and merchandising, and reconditioning. The directory records it as part of Cox Automotive.
Who it says it serves: New and used car dealers.
Auto Inventory Management Solutions | vAuto: Explore ProfitTime GPS, Conquest, Stockwave, iRecon and Merchandising. Compare features and learn how each tool boosts ROI. Book a live demo.
Sections on that page: Your Inventory, Optimized for Profit; ProfitTime ® GPS; Smarter Used Car Decisions; Conquest; Real-Time Market Insights for New Cars; Stockwave; Your Edge in Wholesale Inventory; Faster Reconditioning, Lower Costs.
| Field | Black Book Trade-In | vAuto Conquest |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Black Book | vAuto |
| Corporate parent | None recorded | Cox Automotive |
| Primary market | United States | US & Canada |
| Typical segment | Franchise and independent dealers | Franchise and independents |
| Mapped workflows | Inventory management | Inventory management |
| Named offerings on its own site | 7 | 6 |
| Connection records in the directory | 3 | 6 |
Overlap and divergence
Black Book Trade-In and vAuto Conquest are both mapped to inventory management.
Black Book and vAuto both connect to ProMax, so they sit in the same integration neighbourhood without a listed link to each other. Black Book has 3 connection records and vAuto has 6.
Read from blackbook.com, vauto.com. To score Black Book Trade-In against vAuto Conquest on the same questions, use the demo scorecard.