This week I am again thinking about how the dealership model is changing, and what that means for those who work in the dealership buy sell world. Check out the link to the story on our site about used-car sales site Carvana expanding in the south. The entire sales process takes place online at Carvana. The buyer can even pick up the used car they just bought from a giant vending machine.
Those are used cars, you say. Yes, but why couldn’t the model be adapted to new car sales as well? Still, people do like to at some point visit a dealership, according to a recent study by Autotrader. Our site also links to a story about that. But those buyers really don’t like the sales process as it exists today. They want information from the dealership, not much else.
What does it mean for dealership valuations if a website and a vending machine can replace a dealership? Okay, that isn’t going to happen any time soon. But the Autotrader study does suggest dealerships need to find ways to add value to the customer experience to retain their value.
Customers prefer to minimize the time they spend in a dealership with a lot of preparation i.e. spending time researching online. Preparation is also the key to a quick and smooth closing when buying or selling a dealership. In this week’s issue, attorney Leonard Bellavia offers some advice on what some of that preparation on the part of the attorney should be.
Private equity’s entry into the buy sell world is getting a lot of attention these days, but the truth is that private equity in the form of individual entrepreneurs has been buying dealerships for a long time. This week, I talk to one of those entrepreneurs, Ted Cucci, the new owner of Cucci Ford.
We also have Transaction News, of course.
Enjoy!
Alysha Webb, Editor and Publisher
