2025 NADA Show: Erin Kerrigan | Kerrigan Advisors

Written by:
Jaelyn Campbell
January 27, 2025

CBT News brings you exclusive coverage from the 2025 NADA Show in New Orleans, where Jim Fitzpatrick sits down with Erin Kerrigan, founder and managing director of Kerrigan Advisors. A frequent guest on CBT News, Erin shares her insights into dealership profitability trends, the buy-sell market, and how shifting market dynamics, including lower interest rates and evolving generational ownership transitions, are shaping the industry’s outlook for 2025. With a deep understanding of dealership valuation and market activity, Kerrigan provides a detailed analysis of what’s driving optimism and where the opportunities lie for dealers in the year ahead.

Key Takeaways

  1. Erin Kerrigan highlighted a positive sentiment among dealers, citing expectations for increased dealership profitability due to factors such as declining interest rates, a pro-business administration, and an anticipated rise in vehicle affordability. She projected that the SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate) could grow to between 16.5 and 17 million units, signaling a promising year for top-line growth in the automotive retail sector.
  2. In addition, Kerrigan emphasized the strong momentum in the buy-sell market, noting that 2024 exceeded expectations with the sale of 81 franchises. She attributed this success to stabilizing valuations, buyer confidence in dealership earnings, and the appeal of exiting the market while valuations remain high. She also pointed to generational transitions within family-owned dealerships as a key driver of transaction activity.
  3. In Kerrigan Advisors’ 2024 dealer survey, Toyota and Lexus emerged as the most desired franchises, with Honda and Subaru following closely. Interestingly, weaker-performing brands such as Nissan, Stellantis, and Infiniti accounted for the majority of top-selling franchises, reflecting a significant level of divestment activity. Erin noted the cyclical nature of some brands, with savvy buyers recognizing long-term opportunities even in weaker-performing franchises.

Catch all of CBT News’ coverage of the 2025 NADA Show here.

About Kerrigan Advisors

Kerrigan Advisors is the leading exclusive sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide. Since its founding in 2014, the firm has led the industry with the sale of over 280 auto dealerships representing $9 billion in client proceeds, including the third largest transaction in auto retail history – the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group. Kerrigan Advisors advises the industry’s leading dealership groups, enhancing value through the lifecycle of growing, operating and, when the time is right, selling their businesses. Led by a team of veteran industry experts with backgrounds in investment banking, private equity, consulting, accounting, finance and real estate, we not take listings nor do we employ a brokerage model; rather we develop a customized sales approach for each client to achieve their personal and financial goals. In addition to the firm’s sell-side advisory services, Kerrigan Advisors also provides a suite of automobile dealership consulting and investor services including growth strategy, market valuation assessments, capital allocation, transactional due diligence, open point proposals, operational improvement and real estate due diligence.

Kerrigan Advisors monitors conditions in the buy/sell market and publishes an in-depth analysis each quarter in The Blue Sky Report®, the industry authority on dealership buy/sell market trends and valuations and includes Kerrigan Advisors’ signature blue sky charts, multiples and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. To download a preview of the report, click here. The firm also releases The Kerrigan Index™ comprised of the seven publicly traded auto retail companies with operations focused on the US market. The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index is designed to track dealership valuation trends, while also providing key insights into factors influencing auto retail. To access The Kerrigan Index™, click here. To read the 2024 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, click here. To read the 2024 Kerrigan OEM Survey, click here. Kerrigan Advisors also is the co-author of NADA’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Dealership.

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