December 2008, Month 0/24

IndustryMasters Car Dealership

Balancing inventory & cash resources in a fluid consumer market presents significant management challenges. Operate a thriving car dealership with an eye for growth and profits.

Simulation Run Time
The simulation will run for 24 months (2 years), at a screen-refresh rate of 3 minutes per simulated Month. The simulation round therefore lasts 72 minutes - plus some start up time, as you familiarise yourself with the screens.

Topics Covered
Strategy, Operations management, Competitive Advantages, Inventory Management, Capacity Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Your Starting Position
The initial share capital is 1,361K$ and your available investment budget is 917K$. Your company has already invested into 4 product lines: Repair Shop, Used Cars, New Cars and Parts Shop. You are competing against 3 virtual competitors: Competitor N Ltd, Competitor U Ltd and Competitor X Ltd

Car Dealer

New Cars

Initial Investment: 5,115K$
Warehouse Capacity: 100

Sales Price: 24,552$
Revenue: 614K$ / Month
Gross Margin: 14.2%
Staff: 10

Used Cars

Initial Investment: 2,640K$
Warehouse Capacity: 88

Sales Price: 14,400$
Revenue: 317K$ / Month
Gross Margin: 11.7%
Staff: 6
Purchase correlates 50% with New Cars

Repair Shop

Initial Investment: 1,800K$

Sales Price: 720$
Revenue: 216K$ / Month
Gross Margin: 23.3%
Staff: 13

Parts Shop

Initial Investment: 1,400K$
Warehouse Capacity: 6,000

Sales Price: 168$
Revenue: 168K$ / Month
Gross Margin: 13.3%
Staff: 1
Demand correlates 80% with Repair Shop

Strategic Positioning

Customer Service	Process Quality	Quality Control	Customer Care
Staff Expenses +10.00% Demand +4.00%	Staff Expenses +8.00% Demand +3.00%	Staff Expenses +5.00% Demand +2.00%	Staff Expenses +6.00% Demand +3.00%

Additional Decisions
0.0x Service Training	0.0x Sales Training	0.0x Manager Training	Events

Costs: 16.00K$ Validity 9 months	Costs: 18.00K$ Validity 9 months	Costs: 8.00K$ Validity 9 months	Costs: 7.00K$ Validity 1 months
Parts Shop: Demand +4.0% Repair Shop: Demand +4.0%	Used Cars: Demand +5.0% New Cars: Demand +3.0%	Staff Expenses -3.0%	Demand +5.0% Staff Expenses +2.0%