HAIG PARTNERS – Haig Partners released its Q4 2021 Haig Report, a leading industry quarterly report that tracks trends in auto retail and their impact on dealership values. The report explains how dealership profits have tripled along with demand from dealership groups that want to acquire more stores. These trends have driven record shattering blue sky values for dealerships, and all-time high levels of buy-sell activity.

Highlights from the Q4 2021 Haig Report include:

• The Chipdemic continues to create extraordinarily favorable conditions in auto retail 

• The average publicly owned dealership made $6.4M in 2021, 3.1x higher than in 2019 

• Over 640 dealerships traded hands in 2021, more than double the number that sold in 2019

• Public company spending on US auto acquisitions was $9B+ in 2021, 11.6x higher than the 2015-2019 average

• Public equity valuations are 35% higher than they were before the Pandemic

• Average blue sky values rose an estimated 105% from the end of 2019 and are at record-high levels

• The near to mid-term outlook for dealerships appears bright, but threats are emerging

“The auto retail industry has experienced an incredible series of events over the past 24 months. Few would have predicted that a global Pandemic would have created these excellent conditions for dealers,” shared Alan Haig, President of Haig Partners. “As dealership profits were lifting skyward, the demand for dealerships also began to ignite. Public groups began aggressively buying dealerships, including large dealer groups, and many private dealers have also been in the hunt for more stores. These buyers like the returns on investment they can earn in auto retail and are bullish about the industry’s future, and sellers of dealerships are enjoying unprecedented blue sky values for their stores,” he continued.

For more findings from the Q4 2021 Haig Report, download it here.