The number of dealerships in the U.S. rose by only 0.6 percent in 2014 to 17,953 rooftops, according to Urban Science’s just-released Automotive Franchise Activity Report. Just because new dealerships weren’t being added last year doesn’t mean lots of dealerships weren’t changing hands, however.
This week, I talk with Robert Bass, a partner at law firm Bass Sox Mercer, about 2014, which saw his firm close an historical high of 27 buy sell deals. He shares the drivers behind those deals and also talks to me about the dangers of relying too much on Blue Sky multiples in determining a store’s value, and his take on the private equity approach to valuation.
I covered the China market for many years and dealers here in the U.S. asked me then and now when Chinese vehicles will be sold in the U.S. The answer to that question, year after year, was “not for at least five years.” Now, that horizon may be shrinking a bit because of Chinese automaker Geely’s acquisition of Volvo.
One Chinese automaker is already manufacturing vehicles here in the U.S., just not light vehicles. BYD has been producing electric buses in the California town of Lancaster for less than a year. When it set up a headquarters in Los Angeles back in 2011, BYD aimed to sell its electric crossover vehicle here in the U.S. Those consumer sales never started.
But Berkshire Hathaway is part owner of BYD, and it now also owns a dealership group. I talked to some BYD executives at an electric bus event this week about the possibility of BYD light vehicles being sold through that network and write about it in this issue.
We also have this week’s Transaction News, natch.
Enjoy!
