- The number of new-vehicle dealerships increased slightly in 2011.
- Sales-per-dealer projected to hit a new record this year.
- More buyers expected to contact dealers via online channels.
DETROIT — Reversing a years-long trend of contraction, the number of new-vehicle dealerships in the U.S. increased slightly last year, according to the annual Automotive Franchise Report conducted by global retail consulting firm Urban Science. The firm said there were 17,767 new-car dealerships at the end of 2011, a 0.6-percent increase over the 17,659 dealers at the close of 2010.
This is a big deal because the number of dealers in the country has been contracting at an average rate of about 2 percent every year, Urban Science data shows. The number was much larger in 2009 and 2010, of course, as General Motors Corporation and the Chrysler Group LLC combined to shed something like 2,200 dealers. In 2009, the number of dealers in the U.S. fell by 8 percent and another 4.4 percent in 2010.
Last year, however, it was Chrysler that helped most in reversing the almost continual contraction of the dealer base. Chrysler added 135 Fiat dealers in 2011, Urban Science said, along with 50 new Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealerships. This was after Chrysler dropped more than 700 dealers during its restructuring and bankruptcy.
Maybe not surprisingly, California led the nation with 31 new dealerships in 2011. New Jersey saw 10 new dealers open, and Ohio and Florida each welcomed nine new dealers.
Meanwhile, the Urban Science data-niks also offered an interesting projection for 2012: dealers likely will set a new record for "throughput," the average number of sales per dealership. The firm said it expects dealers to average 785 sales per dealership this year, passing the record of 784 set in 2005.
And since you're reading this here, you could be one of the increasing number of potential new-vehicle buyers to submit to a dealer an online request, or "lead," for information on buying a new vehicle prior to actually showing up at the dealership. Urban Science's report said online lead volume could increase 15-20 percent this year, much of it a function of a projected jump in overall sales of about 9 percent over the approximately 12.5 million new vehicles sold last year.
Inside Line says: After the slash-and-burn recession years, the dealership-contraction trend makes a rare reverse.
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