February light vehicle sales are expected to fall by up to four percent, which is a bit of a downer. The good news is that incentive spending seems to be in check after a bit of a binge last year. Also good news – transaction prices are holding up.
It is hard to assess how such news impacts the buy sell market. One positive result of a less-strong market may be to calm unrealistic valuation expectations, which were fairly rampant when the market was raging. In any case, dealerships are holding their appeal as an investment judging from the buy sell folks I talk with.
We here at Automotive Buy Sell Report generally look at the new car dealership buy sell market, but this week I talked with James Taylor of The Presidio Group about another sector – used car dealerships. JT says his firm sees a consolidation trend in the independent used car dealership space. The used car market is forecast to be quite healthy this year, which creates opportunity for investors in the used segment, he says. Read more about that in this week’s issue.
Dealerships are going to be around for quite a while, so you can breathe a sigh of relief. That’s one takeaway from a webinar sponsored by The Rawls Group looking at the future of dealerships. Other positive tidbits include: Millennials actually do want to buy cars and there is a place for single-point dealerships in the retail auto world of the future. Read more about the panel discussion in this week’s issue.
And don’t forget Transaction News.
Enjoy!
