ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT | AUTO RETAILERS

Dealerships, sales bigger in Texas

By TERRY BOX
Automotive Writer tbox@dallasnews.com

New-car dealerships in Texas tend to be bigger and sell more vehicles than average qualities that large automotive groups nd attractive. Two substantial sales have already been completed over the last year in the Dallas area, and observers expect more. New vehicles account for 14.9 percent of U.S. retail sales.

Car dealerships remain a thriving business

Although car dealerships were hit hard by the industrys retraction in 2009, when Chrysler and General Motors declared bankruptcy, they have bounced back. Average sales per dealership U.S. Texas Total10 dealership sales of new vehicles Miles Estimated number of new-vehicle dealerships Average number of employees per dealership

$38.4 million $52.7 million

Average annual earnings of new-vehicle dealership employees

$676.4 billion $63.3 billion

Dealership payroll as percentage of typical state retail payroll

17,635 1,201
Annual payroll of new-vehicle dealerships in U.S.

55 73
Average annual payroll per new-vehicle dealership

U.S. Texas

$53,539 $57,303

12.3% 14%

$52 billion $5.02 billion

$2.92 million $4.18 million

Big players get larger thanks to some local acquisitions

AutoNation, the largest dealership group in the U.S. and the second-largest in the Dallas area, has already made one huge local acquisition this year, and dealers say the group is looking for more. The company had nearly $900 million in cash and available credit at the end of the second quarter for acquistions and buybacks, according to reports. These are some of the acquisitions that AutoNation has made this year: 2012 sales for dealerships acquired 1. Boardwalk Audi 1,020 2. Boardwalk Porsche 418 3. Boardwalk Volkswagen, Dallas 1,086 4. Boardwalk Volkswagen, Richardson 1,477 5. Toyota of Lewisville 1,813
360 121

LEWISVILLE 5 1 2

PLANO

35E

RICHARDSON 4

D/FW Airport 3

75

635

78

6. Don Davis Toyota 1,116

SOURCE: The Freeman Auto Report

ARLINGTON 6 30

DALLAS

30

80

High sales keep interest high in Dallas-area dealerships

These were the top five dealerships in sales last year in Dallas County and in Tarrant County, which have the largest number of dealerships in the area. Most sell twice as many new cars and trucks as the average dealership in the U.S. Dallas and Houston combined often record more new-vehicle sales than many states. Classic Chevrolet in Grapevine Lute Riley Honda in Richardson Sewell Lexus in Dallas

5,071
Five Star Ford of North Richland Hills

3,297
Park Place Motors of Dallas

4,106

4,761
Autobahn of Fort Worth,

3,291
Freeman Toyota of Hurst

3,301
FORT WORTH

3,297

DALLAS Friendly Chevrolet of Dallas Vandergriff Toyota in Arlington

Trophy Nissan in Mesquite

3,545

3,822

3,422
TARRANT COUNTY
SOURCES: Automotive News; National Automobile Dealers Association; The Freeman Auto Report of Dallas

DALLAS COUNTY

The bottom line

It is volume and the fact that the economy here is growing that attracts the interest [in area dealerships]. You are not only buying what you get today, but also betting on the future. And the future looks brighter here than anywhere else. We have a very different mix of vehicles on the road here than you nd elsewhere cars that tend to be more luxurious and newer. If you look at the vehicles sold here, you see a larger volume of higher-prot cars, and thats an attractive proposition. You have to be in this market if youre a real player. Scott Black, principal of TimePiece Public Relations and Marketing of Dallas, which represents high-end dealerships and manufacturers Dallas is practically designed for high car sales. Most people seem to put a premium on driving nice vehicles. The dealerships are located on large tracts of land, tend to be big, and state franchise laws make it easier for them to sell large numbers of vehicles. This area is rapidly becoming the center of automotive retailing in the Southwest.

Drew Campbell, senior partner of Capital Insight in Dallas and former head of the New Car Dealers Association of Metropolitan Dallas

Terry Box, automotive writer, The Dallas Morning News