California New Car Sales Reach $102 Billion in 2005

SACRAMENTO, CA - March 8, 2006: The California Motor Car Dealers Association (CMCDA) announced that California's franchised new car dealers were a major contributor to California's economy in 2005, generating 19% of all retail sales in the state, and will be an integral part of its economic success in the future, according to the annual State Economic Impact Study.

"The new car dealers of California are important business and community leaders, and we are proud of our contributions in support of California's prosperity. People rely on our dealer members for jobs, valuable products and services and for assistance in the community and charitable causes," said Bert Boeckmann, CMCDA chairman. "We made charitable contributions in excess of $59 million last year."

Although consolidation in vehicle retailing will reduce the number of dealerships in some parts of the state, the remaining dealerships will become more efficient, with higher revenue, employment and unit-sales per dealer. Population growth and new vehicle brands, many of which come from Asia, will help increase the total number of franchises in California in 2006, just as the count increased to 4,247 franchises in 2005 compared with 3,859 in the 2004 survey.

Total revenue from goods and services sold at California franchised dealerships reached $102 billion in 2005 and total full and part time employment stood at 149,097 people. The average dealership employs 84 full-time and 6 part-time employees. California's new car dealers paid a total of $791 million in personnel benefits, or an average of $5,308 per employee. Dealership payrolls were over $10.1 billion, and California dealers spent nearly $12.8 billion for goods and services from other businesses in the state. Franchised dealers in California paid or collected $7.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes on over $77.2 billion in taxable sales for 2005.

California franchised dealers sold an estimated 2,144,882 new cars in 2005 for a total dollar amount of $75.6 billion. Total new unit sales were composed of 1,070,296 (49.9%) new cars and 1,074,586 (50.1%) new trucks. In 2005, the average California dealership delivered 1,294 new units.

Note: The information presented in this study was compiled using government sources (both federal and state) and industry sources. In addition, a survey requesting full year 2005 financial, tax, and other information was sent to California dealers.

The above data was obtained in cooperation with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which produces the 2006 State Economic Impact Study. The NADA, founded in 1917 and based in McLean, VA, represents more than 20,000 franchised new car and truck dealers holding nearly 43,000 separate franchises, domestic and international.

About CMCDA

The California Motor Car Dealers Association is the country's largest state association of franchised new car and truck dealers with over 1,400 dealer members. CMCDA members are primarily engaged in the retail sale and lease of new vehicles, and also engage in automotive service, repair and part sales. CMCDA promotes fair and ethical business practices through a wide range of educational programs, services and industry publications. For more information, visit CMCDA's Web site: www.cmcda.org.