Sellers may soon start selling again, panel says

CHICAGO — After a robust couple of years when retailers of all sizes and their frenzied dealership acquisitions helped create a seller's market, what's to come? A few industry experts shared their thoughts on why and more during the Let's Make a Deal panel at the Automotive News Retail Forum: Chicago on Thursday.

A shift may already have begun, according to Jeff Rosen, CEO of Rosen Automotive Group. Rosen Automotive in April expanded to five stores with its purchase of the former Francois Ford in Belleville, Wis.

Rosen said the cost of capital may nudge dealers who have held off on selling during times of big profits.

"They're probably gonna come off the sidelines, and get off that fence, and make the decision to sell," Rosen said.

Mark LaNeve, chairman of Franchise Equity Partners, agreed, saying as business normalizes, more sellers will enter the market. Profits in 2021 and 2022 gave dealers pause, LaNeve said.

"You're making five or six times what you made two years ago, in just that year, why would you want to sell?" LaNeve said.

Jarryd Carver, CEO of Hampton, Va.-based Winners Circle Automotive Group, agreed that the normalization of business will lure sellers into the market.

For now, Carver is a buyer. With four stores generating about $180 million in sales, he's looking to even out at seven. His team hopes to close on three more stores this year.

"I don't really want to look beyond that," Carver said. "I'm really happy with where we are now."

LaNeve, a longtime automotive executive who has held leadership positions in sales and marketing at Ford and General Motors during his decadeslong career, recently found his firm on the buying side with Franchise Equity Partners.

Last week, just less than a year after its November 2021 launch, Franchise Equity Partners, based in New York, invested $70 million into Georgica Auto Holdings led by CEO Jon Sobel.

"I probably approved a thousand buy-sells, but I never did one," LaNeve said. "It's been an experience."

LaNeve said Franchise Equity Partners' business model has piqued interest: Dealerships it partners with always have a majority stake.

"We rise and fall with the fortunes of that particular dealer or dealer group," LaNeve said.

Rosen said staying in the Midwest helps him control his business.

"I want to stay in the Midwest and carry out the business," he said. "For me, it's easier to manage and we have a consolidated office."

Carver said keeping all of his stores within a 30-mile radius in Virginia is intentional. "This is being strategic and being prepared for, you know, whatever kind of volatility may or may not come this year," he said.

With the evolution of electric vehicles, a shaky economy and other factors adding to the challenges of running a successful dealership, one theme heard throughout the day was echoed at the panel: Good people are needed.

"You have the people," Rosen said. "If you don't have the people, you're not able to grow."