Presidio Group and NCM Associates analysts say net pretax profit metrics varied wildly among U.S. domestic, import and luxury dealerships in the third quarter, citing “unusual” factors such as a run on EVs ahead of expiring federal tax credits and a “tough comp” to the year-ago quarter, which followed the resolution of the CDK Global systems outage.

Domestic franchises enjoyed a 14.7% year-over-year increase in Q3 net pretax profits. But modest gains by import (1.9%) and luxury (0.1%) stores pulled the overall average down to 7%.

“These results reinforce how resilient dealerships are, even with all the recent market shifts,” writes George Karolis, president of The Presidio Group, in a release. “We’re seeing the industry’s average profitability normalize at a much higher level than before the pandemic. That said, it’s important to remember that outcomes still depend greatly on the brands a store represents and the region where they operate.”

F&I income per retail unit improved by 6.9% to $1,666. Gross profit per vehicle retailed decreased 15.7% to $1,840 for new units, dropping below $2,000 for the first time since 2020, and gross profit per used vehicle fell 9.2% to $1,306.

Fixed ops gross profits were down 8.6% year-over-year, another echo of last year’s CDK outage, which delayed a high number of service visits from June to July, boosting Q3 2024 results by 12% over Q3 2023.

Read more at The Presidio Group