Valuations are fundamental to informing the business and family decisions around one of your most significant financial assets.

Determining value, however, is a complicated process that requires insightful analysis by professionals who understand the specifics of your industry and needs. For dealerships, a valuation multiple may not be sufficient to determine a proper valuation—instead, valuation should focus on expected cash flow over past performance to properly reflect the company’s lifecycle changes.

Gain fresh perspectives on your business’s cash flow and risks with automotive and dealership industry-focused services from our professionals.   

How We Help

Consulting with dealers on issues related to ongoing operations and ownership transitions, our professionals can help perform valuations in a range of key scenarios so you’re better equipped in your decision-making process.

Potential scenarios can include:

• Buy/sell transactions 
• Estate and gift tax reporting or planning 
• Succession planning 
• Purchase price allocation  
• Annual impairment testing
• Financing
• Various forms of litigation

Additionally, we can help with new point proposals, expansion planning, and value-enhancement planning for dealers that sell an individual franchise or personal goodwill assets.

Appraisal Process

An appraiser will gather all pertinent information necessary for determining a valuation of your specific business and interest therein.

This process will involve investigating various impacts on value including:

• Internal influences such as departmental mix, geographic location, dealership or group size and number of locations, franchise type, current facilities, management, factory relationship, and earnings growth potential
• Local influences such as competition, local brand strength, construction, franchise laws, and building regulations
• External influences such as industry trends, economic trends, supplier disruption, and government regulation

Expansive Automotive Industry Expertise

Dealerships are complex and specialized businesses, with often four or five separate departments operating autonomously. Deeply immersed in the industry, our professionals engage in its intricacies, opportunities, and challenges, including the unique aspects of the franchised dealership.

We consult businesses across the automotive industry including dealers of light-duty vehicles, heavy trucks, RVs, power sport and motorcycles, heavy equipment, and more—whether you’re a single-point or large dealership group.

We view challenges from the perspective of a dealer because many of our professionals previously worked within the industry and maintain strong relationships with lawyers, bankers, and other advisors crucial to pursuing your goals.

Our clients aren’t the only industry leaders who look to us for guidance. We frequently collaborate with influential industry organizations, state associations, and events such as the National Automobile Dealership Association (NADA)—including drafting their Dealer Guide to Dealership Valuation, American Truck Dealers (ATD), Associated Equipment Dealers (AED), American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA), NADC Conference, National RV Dealers Association (RVDA), the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Auto Dealership Conference, and more.