Large dealerships are set to play a pivotal role in delivering new mobility solutions to consumers.
Big dealerships will be the “mothership” for introduction of EV, shared driving and autonomous technology because they offer the route to market for much of technology.
That’s the view of Automotive Property Consultancy (APC) which said the current trend towards dealer group consolidation, with the larger dealer groups getting bigger and often subsuming the smaller groups, will mean that the long-standing decline in outlet numbers continue.
APC cited the example of Lookers which seen gross profit per outlet increase from £14.2m in 2011 to £31.8m in 2017.
“It is only the small and lossmaking dealerships that are under threat from new technology,” said APC managing director Bill Bexson.
He said dealerships will continue to be both the provider and maintainer of this evolving product package and will be “the mothership” of the new technology and connectivity desired by customers.
“As such Motor Manufacturers see dealerships as central to their sales strategy. A move to bigger sites to accommodate more servicing for more vehicle types is possible, as is a disaggregation of services.
He said sales will increasingly be “part digital, part physical” but in terms of impact on the built environment, the impact on car dealerships will not be as significant as the impact felt in other sectors.