US Retail Auto Industry Includes 50,000 Dealers with Combined Annual Sales of about $770 Billion

DUBLIN, Ireland--April 6, 2006--Research and Markets has announced the addition of Automobile Dealerships - Industry Profile to their offering.

The US retail auto industry includes 50,000 car and truck dealers with combined annual sales of about $770 billion, according to the latest Economic Census data. Among the largest dealers are AutoNation, Sonic Automotive, United Auto Group, and Group 1 Automotive. The top 100 dealer groups account for less than 15 percent of industry sales in this highly fragmented industry. The industry includes 25,000 new car dealers with sales of $700 billion and about 25,000 used car dealers with sales of $70 billion.

A typical dealership has $30 million in annual revenue; about 500 dealers have annual revenue over $100 million. The overwhelming majority of dealers are privately owned and operate a single dealership, but the largest are publicly traded and own hundreds.

Demand for cars is heavily influenced by consumer income and interest rates, because most cars are bought on credit. A dealership's profitability depends largely on the volume of cars and services sold, because most costs are fixed. Large dealerships have advantages in a wider selection of cars and larger advertising budget. Annual revenue per employee ranges from $300,000 at small dealers to $600,000 at large dealers.

A typical car dealer sells new cars (60 percent of total revenue) and used cars (28 percent) and provides service and parts (12 percent).

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Key topics covered include:

-- Industry Overview

-- Quarterly Industry Update

-- Business Challenges

-- Trends and Opportunities

-- Call Preparation Questions

-- Financial Information

-- Industry Forecast

-- Website and Media Links

-- Glossary of Acronyms

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c35348