Strength in dealership valuations, buy-sell expected to continue

Here’s one thing that automakers and dealers can agree on (for the most part).

Dealership valuations will remain robust.

According to The Presidio Group’s Midyear 2026 Dealer Direction Survey, 78% of of dealer respondents said they anticipate dealership valuations to climb or remain steady over the next year.

About 75% say the same about the next three years.

Meantime, Kerrigan Advisors surveyed automaker executives about their expectations for dealership M&A for the first time and found that 82% believe dealership blue sky values will increase or remain steady (21% projecting increase, 61% predicting stability).

And 88% of automaker executives anticipate stability or growth in dealership buy-sell activity, Kerrigan said.

There has already been a strong uptick in transactions so far this year.

Once the final tally comes in, there is expected to have been 23% more dealership buy-sell transactions in the first half of 2026 than there was a year ago, according to the latest quarterly Presidio Perspective report from The Presidio Group.

Citing data from its own proprietary sources, Automotive News, The Banks Report and Scali Rasmussen, Presidio said the first six months of the year had roughly 215 buy-sell transactions, with 315 dealerships involved.

That’s up from 174 transactions involving 218 dealers in the same period of 2025.

Granted, there was a pause in deal closings around the 2024 election and that slowdown carried over into the first half of last year.

Still, this year’s numbers have underscored “healthy M&A demand, particularly as more dealers pursue portfolio management initiatives to strengthen their footprint,” Presidio contends.

“The M&A market remains robust, but buyers are much more selective about what they want to own,” Presidio president George Karolis said in the report. “The highest-quality assets continue to command significant interest, reinforcing the flight-to-quality trend we’ve been talking about for a while now.

“But there is a wider spread between the stores buyers are excited about and those they are more cautious about.”

To be sure, it is a sellers’ market. Nearly two-thirds of respondents in the Presidio’s midyear dealer survey said they hope to buy within the next year, the firm said. And they may have their chance.

Presidio anticipates growth in dealmaking will continue, particularly among the largest public and private groups, who “substantial resources to pursue M&A after years of above normal profitability strengthened their balance sheets,” the firm said.

As of the end of the first quarter, the six public retailers had combined available liquidity of $7.3 billion, Presidio said. That beats pre-pandemic levels by 58%.

“The publics highlight a disciplined approach to capital allocation, meaning potential acquisitions are competing against other uses of capital, including share repurchases, debt reduction and technology investments,” Presidio said.

Additionally, more dealerships are interested in selling their stores at the midpoint of 2026 (18%) compared to the end of last year (11%), Presidio found in its midyear survey.

What’s more, interest in selling is the highest it has been since the firm started surveying dealers in 2023.

“Dealers are looking much harder at the full picture of ownership — the brand, the market, facility requirements and the long-term earnings outlook,” Karolis said. “With that scrutiny driving both acquisitions and divestitures and supported by robust liquidity, Presidio expects an M&A flywheel effect to continue where more activity begets more activity.”

For automakers, dealership network consolidation could come into play.

In the Kerrigan OEM survey, 45% of respondents anticipate fewer dealers in their respective networks in the next five years, compared to 33% in 2025.

Just 14% believe their automaker’s dealer network will increase.

“This reflects the industry’s long-term consolidation trajectory, with buy/sell activity now pacing at roughly double its pre-pandemic level,” Kerrigan Advisors said in a news release.

“Rising facility standards are also accelerating that dynamic, with 43% of OEM executives indicating their organization will require a new image facility within five years.”

The firm’s founder and managing director Erin Kerrigan noted, “The consolidation signal in this year’s survey is significant: OEMs are planning for a network of fewer, but more profitable, dealers.

“For well-capitalized operators, this is a market that continues to reward scale and investment, and it’s a major reason buy/sell activity and valuations are expected to stay strong, as leading consolidators seek growth.”