More best of times, worst of times news. As I write this, Urban Science just forecast that throughput per dealership will drop this year. That’s bad news. But it will drop to 960 units from 966 units in 2015. And 960 is still higher than 2014’s 921.
It is hard to complain about throughput of 960. Indeed, there’s not that much to complain about in general this year as far as sales go. The unsettling factor is not knowing whether this is a trend.
If the industry is heading for a plateau – which appears certain – or even a period of falling sales, a time of reckoning is coming for those sitting on the fence about selling their dealership. Actually, they probably should have already sold or started the process of selling.
Are medium-sized family-owned dealership groups at risk in such times? Not according to Liza Borches, president of Carter Myers Automotive. At least where CMA is concerned, Borches thinks her company is positioned to benefit from consolidation. Find out why, and also why she figures being a woman in the dealership business has its pluses and minuses.
If you have decided to sell, you may be reading some reports to try to determine how much your dealership is worth. Stop! First read this week’s piece from Crowe Horwath on dealer value-killing mistakes. The bottom line: The same franchise can be worth a lot more, or a lot less, depending on some of these factors.
We naturally also have this week’s Transaction News.
Enjoy!
