Overall demand for dealerships remains high thanks to earnings that remain well above historic levels, according to the Haig Report released last month. At least 385 rooftops have traded hands through the end of Q3 2023. At this pace, 2023 will be the third most active year for dealership buy-sells, following 2021 and 2022.

“The buy-sell market remains near record levels due to strong profits and significant demand from dealers who want to grow their companies,” said Alan Haig, resident of Haig Partners.

Due to lower profits, Haig Partners estimates that the average blue sky value per publicly owned dealership at the end of Q3 declined by 12% compared to year-end 2022, a little over 1% per month. However, these declines are not being felt evenly across all franchises or regions. This year, Haig Partners advised Al Hendrickson, Jr. on selling his Toyota dealership in South Florida for the highest price ever paid for a single franchise. Demand for Toyota dealerships remains elevated. In November, Haig Partners received very desirable offers for several other Toyota stores it is representing.

In addition to Toyota, Haig Partners is seeing strong demand for a number of other franchises and for dealerships of almost all kinds located in regions that are growing quickly and have pro-business climates. Two Mercedes-Benz dealerships were recently sold in Miami-Dade County for more than $700M, including real estate. Haig Partners knows of other pending sales in Florida that will set record-high values for the franchises involved. Other geographic locations are also seeing impressive prices for dealerships, including Texas, the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Mountain States and the Southwest, where dealers want to grow.