Kerrigan Advisors tracked 330 dealership transactions involving 544 franchises in the first nine months of 2024, putting dealership mergers and acquisition activity on track for a fifth consecutive year of growth, according to the buy-sell advisory’s Third Quarter 2024 Blue Sky Report.

Other highlights include:

• Multidealership transactions accounted for 25% of the total, down from 33% in 2021.
• Dealers’ pretax earnings appear to be stabilizing, with the average dealership earning $900,000 in the third quarter, down 3% from Q2.
• Through November, the Big 6 publicly traded dealer groups sold nine more rooftops than they acquired.

Managing Director Erin Kerrigan credited “another peak year” to large buyers leveraging capital and borrowing power and more dealers primed to sell after stacking post-pandemic profits.

“Clearly, 2024 is on track to be another peak year for the buy/sell market as the positive outlook for the industry is underscored by the performance of The Kerrigan Index, which, through November 7th, was up 54% from its 2022 low, and just 17% below its all-time high,” Kerrigan wrote in a release announcing the Q3 report.

Get the full report at Kerrigan Advisors