Other Dealers of Your Brand Sell Into Your Market Every Month. Your OEM Report Counts Every One.
Pump-in is the number of new vehicles of your brand registered to buyers in your primary market area (PMA) but sold by another dealer of the same brand. Most dealers see that number every month in their manufacturer's market report. Far fewer do anything with it, which is why the same rival store keeps showing up at the top of the list.
What Pump-In and Pump-Out Mean
Pump-in counts the sales other same-brand dealers make to buyers inside your PMA. Pump-out counts the sales you make to buyers outside it, including buyers in other dealers' PMAs. Your PMA is the area the manufacturer assigns to your store because it's more convenient to your location than to any other dealer of your brand.
Both numbers are same-brand. A shopper in your PMA who bought a competing brand doesn't count as pump-in; that shows up in your segment share. Pump-in is the buyer who already chose your brand, lives closer to you than to anyone else, and still bought from another store. That's the most winnable sale in your market, and it's leaving.
Where to Find Your Pump-In Report
Most manufacturers deliver pump-in and pump-out data through their dealer market reporting tool, usually with views by competing dealer, by geography and by model. Registration data from S&P Global Mobility (Polk) tracks the same flows. If you aren't sure where your report lives, your district or regional manager can pull it for you.
Why Pump-In Hits Your Lost Sales Number
In manufacturer market reporting, lost sales typically combine two things: the sales your PMA should have produced at your brand's expected share, and the pump-in sales other same-brand dealers made there. Every pump-in unit lands directly in the performance numbers your manufacturer measures you on, and in the district rankings your rivals are watching.
What Pump-In Costs You
Start with three numbers: your monthly pump-in units, the share of them you could realistically win back, and your total gross per new unit, front end and back end. Multiply them and then multiply by 12.
Not every pump-in unit is winnable. Some buyers work next to another store, chased one specific vehicle, or bought on price. If your report shows 30 pump-in units a month and you win back a third of them at $2,500 in total gross, that's $25,000 a month and $300,000 a year, before service retention and the trade-ins that come with each deal. Use your own numbers; the point is to see the size of it.
What Winning It Back Looks Like
A California Chevrolet dealer was losing customers in its own territory to a larger Chevrolet store running roughly three times its ad budget. C-4 Analytics compared where the dealer's ads ran against where its buyers purchased, then moved the existing budget to match. Within 30 days, monthly sales climbed from 30 to 40 new units to 50 to 55. The dealer held 66% of new Chevrolet sales in its own market and took 26% in the rival's home market, without matching the rival's spend.
What's in the Guide
The full guide covers how to read your pump-in report in four questions, how to estimate what it costs your store, the reasons shoppers drive past you to a same-brand rival, the warning signs your marketing isn't built around your PMA, and the questions to ask your marketing partner. It also includes a monthly pump-in tracker and two same-brand case studies.
Download the Pump-In/Pump-Out Guide
Get the full guide, including a monthly pump-in tracker and two same-brand case studies.Pump-In and Pump-Out FAQ
What Is Pump-In in Car Sales?
Pump-in is the number of new vehicles of your brand sold to buyers in your primary market area by other dealers of the same brand. Manufacturers report it monthly, usually broken out by competing dealer, geography and model.
What Is Pump-Out?
Pump-out is the number of your new vehicle sales registered to buyers outside your primary market area. It shows where your store already wins business beyond its assigned territory.
What Is a Dealer's Primary Market Area (PMA)?
A PMA is the geography a manufacturer assigns to a dealership because it's more convenient to that store than to any other dealer of the same brand. Manufacturers use it to measure a dealer's expected sales, actual sales and market share.
Is Pump-In the Same as Losing Sales to a Competing Brand?
No. Pump-in only counts same-brand sales. A buyer in your PMA who chose a competing brand shows up in your segment or brand share, not in pump-in.
Is High Pump-Out a Good Sign?
Pump-out shows you can win buyers outside your territory. If your pump-in is high at the same time, you're trading buyers with neighboring stores instead of growing, and the buyers closest to you are the ones you're losing.
How Often Should a Dealer Review Pump-In?
Monthly. Track total pump-in units, which dealers they went to, which areas and models they came from, and whether each number is moving up or down. One month is a data point; three months in the same direction is a trend worth acting on.