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I had the chance to catch a web cast today.  One of the statements I found interesting is that there are around 2,500 dealers in the US.  What was even more interesting is that two years ago there were around 5,000 dealers.  Mergers are the culprit and the trend is likely to continue.

Thoughts?

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I think a lot of the small operations are getting squeezed out because they didn't keep up with technology and like said, there are a lot of acquisitions.  I'd say its a really good time to be a mid-sized dealer in the 5-10 million dollar range.  My experience has been that the giants created by these acquisitions don't provide the level of customer service that customers will get from a mid-sized dealer.  Bigger isn't always better.

I should add that a big reason for the growth of the mid sized dealership I've been at for the past 25 years is due to the failings of the acquisition model and the direct manufacturer model beginning with Icon acquiring our #1 local competitor back in the mid 90s.  Icon took away our #1 competitor then dropped the ball on the customer service resulting in us gobbling up a large number of accounts within 2 years.  The same thing happened when Global absorbed another competitor although Global for a couple of years was a thorn in our side.  The manufacturer direct offices have also fallen flat on their faces over and over.  These giants can't provide a level of service that the small to mid size dealer can.  This is a time of opportunity.  

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