The effect of organisational sales management on dealership performance

The objectives of this paper are to grasp the current situation of Japanese automobile dealers (sales outlets) and discover what the effective capability and management practices are for them. We analyse quantitative data obtained from questionnaires distributed to new vehicle sales outlets in the Tokyo region of Japan. We have three major findings. First, the overall sales performance of Japanese sales outlets appears to be unsustainably low, suggesting there will be ongoing consolidation even after a post-pandemic recovery. Second, the paper provides empirical evidence that there are significant differences in the new vehicle sales performance of sales outlets across vehicle brands and segments. Third, we found that acquisition capability and job role formalisation at sales outlets have significant negative effects on new vehicle sales performance. The results suggest the importance of role flexibility at sales outlets.