AutoBuy Upends Traditional Auto Remarketing: Connects Dealers with Today’s Most In-Demand Used Vehicles

AutoBuy positively disrupts auto remarketing, solving dealer inventory challenges by providing pipeline of fresh, hard-to-find, high-demand used vehicles to Manheim and Adesa auctions; attracts over 100,000 pre-owned car sellers through its bricks-and-mortar locations and WEPAYTHEMAX.com website

West Palm Beach, Florida – June 15, 2017 – AutoBuy, the disruptive car-buying company focused on delivering fresh, high-quality used vehicle inventory to dealers, today announced it has served over 100,000 private car sellers and appraised over one billion dollars in inventory through its bricks and mortars locations and its WEPAYTHEMAX.com website.

AutoBuy, which provides consumers with a hassle-free and value-driven way to sell their vehicles, is on a mission to help dealers close the gap when it comes to acquiring pre-owned inventory, including the hard-to-find 2009-2012 model years. The company is a major supplier to two of the nation’s largest auction houses, Manheim and Adesa, and its uniquely high-quality inventory is available to dealerships across the country via simulcast and in-lane sales.  

“AutoBuy is the missing link in the pre-owned vehicle equation: dealers know the profitable inventory they need from the data and market research they now have at the tips of their fingers – but, until AutoBuy, this inventory has been difficult to acquire,” said Mark Maida, CEO of AutoBuy, and a 40 year veteran of the auto remarketing industry.

The company also announced that the growing number of consumers selling vehicles through AutoBuy’s six bricks-and-mortar locations and consumer-facing website, WEPAYTHEMAX.com, has increased its available inventory by over 110% since 2016. All of which is driving significant revenue growth – nearly 70% year over year – and expansion: the company plans to open four new locations in Florida in 2017.

“AutoBuy purchases inventory from consumers for the sole purpose of resale to auto dealers, either directly or at auction,” said Anthony Maida, Founder and President of AutoBuy.  “This allows us to offer rare, fresh inventory that hasn’t been seen on countless pre-owned websites and that needs little to no reconditioning – in fact, the average sale time for our vehicles is 7.5 days.”

CARite of Cocoa, Florida has been purchasing vehicles from AutoBuy since its inception, with AutoBuy vehicles representing about 40% of CARite’s inventory.  “AutoBuy has been a huge part of our success this year. Its vehicles are not only among the highest quality we sell, but they also have a ‘time-to-lot’ that is half that of any others with drastically reduced reconditioning costs,” said Owner Gabriel Peer-Drake Sr. “Plus, because they are freshly purchased from consumers, they lack the drawbacks of other used inventory which often arrives with ‘hidden problems’ or a history of being unsuccessfully marketed online.  AutoBuy vehicles are unique, diverse and unusually low mileage vehicles that I can’t buy anywhere else, allowing me to create my own fast-selling vehicle marketplace.” 

AutoBuy’s popularity with consumers is key to its successful model and it is the only company in the auto remarketing industry to have achieved a near-perfect Google review score[1]. AutoBuy streamlines the often onerous and stressful car-selling experience for private owners with its quick, easy ‘come-to-you’ mobile appraisal service (at home or office); and, because its pricing is not restricted to local market values, AutoBuy offers consumers a better price for their vehicles, versus other models like CarMax. All of which translates into a frontline-ready pipeline of pre-owned cars for dealers and auction houses.

Manheim Auto Auction in West Palm Beach works with AutoBuy in a program where Manheim focuses on reconditioning the vehicles and AutoBuy on acquiring inventory from consumers.  “AutoBuy has truly cracked one of the key auto remarketing challenges by developing a model that is completely unique in the industry and that has helped us grow our incremental sales 172% year over year,” said Robert Zakaib, General Manager of West Palm Beach Manheim Auto Auction. “The inventory we receive from AutoBuy is incredibly diverse because they have solved the most complicated part of the vehicle transaction – the trade-in. AutoBuy is able to focus on offering consumers a fair market price which, in turn, means they have a direct funnel of quality vehicles that we can offer to dealers at auction.”

ABOUT AUTOBUY

Founded in 2010, and based in West Palm Beach, Florida, AutoBuy is a bricks and clicks automotive company that is upending traditional automotive remarketing with a completely unique model that offers auto retailers and auction houses a marketplace of fresh, high-quality used vehicles, without the hassle of reconditioning. With six bricks and mortar locations across Florida and its WEPAYTHEMAX.com website, the company offers consumers a speedy, convenient, safe, and hassle-free way to sell their vehicles for the maximum market price.  The company, which has over 100 years of auto remarketing expertise on its team, has appraised over a billion dollars of used vehicle inventory and served over 100,000 private car sellers, and is the only remarketing company to achieve a near perfect Google review score with consumers.

Media Contacts:

Melanie Webber, melanie@mwebbcom.com

Cassandra Cavanah, cassandra@mwebbcom.com

Multi-Franchise Dealership Transactions Rise by 52% in First Half of 2016 according to The Blue Sky Report™ released by Kerrigan Advisors

Despite a slight decline in overall transaction activity, average transaction size is up; record franchise values and rising real estate prices spur more sales by family-owned dealerships; domestic transaction buy/sell share increases

Irvine, CA, August 22, 2016 – The number of large, multi-dealership transactions rose by 52% YOY in the first half of 2016, according to The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, which today released its analysis of the first six months of 2016.  Although there was a decline in overall transaction activity, the average size of transactions rose significantly. The report from Kerrigan Advisors is the auto industry's most comprehensive and authoritative quarterly report and analysis of dealership mergers and acquisition activity and franchise values.

Laying out the high, average and low multiples for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments for the quarter, the report offers a detailed view of public and private company dealership acquisition activity.  Key findings of the report covering the first six months of 2016 included:

• 32 multi-dealership transactions completed
• 22% increase in average transaction size: average dealership group sold represented more than three franchises[1]
• 16% decline in overall transaction activity
• Dealership group sellers spurred by retirement, estate planning, lack of a succession plan and rising real estate prices
• Domestic buy/sell market share increases: buyers attracted to higher ROI vs. imports
• Private buyers continue to drive the market as publicly-traded dealerships’ market caps decline
• Publicly-traded dealerships, as a group, sold nearly as many dealerships as they acquired

“Many owners of multi-franchise groups, particularly those at or near retirement, are capitalizing on their ability to sell their groups to a single buyer in today’s market,” said Erin Kerrigan, Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors. “Even with the exit of most of the public buyers, private buyers and new entrants remain active and are often attracted to the scale provided by larger group acquisitions. And, while the activity level in the first half of 2016, was lower than the first half of 2015, if annualized it would exceed the number of transactions completed in 2014.”   

The report identifies three key trends for the second half of 2016:

• Transaction sizes will continue to rise
• Public valuation declines in first half of year, portends potential private valuation declines
• The quality of current and future sales may weaken

“While buy/sell activity declined in the first half of 2016 for the first time since the recession, driven primarily by the exit of most public buyers, we expect the pace of acquisition activity to increase in the second half of 2016, as private buyers and new entrants continue seeking sizable acquisitions and sellers continue to capitalize on attractive valuations,” continued Kerrigan. “But it must be noted that the decline in the public dealership values as noted by The KAR Index, may portend a decline in future private values and the quality of industry sales may be weakening, increasing industry risk and resulting in lower dealership earnings.”

The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, is published four times a year and includes Kerrigan Advisor’s signature blue sky charts, multiples and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. The multiples are based on Kerrigan Advisors’ view of franchise values in the current buy/sell market and can be applied to adjusted pre-tax dealership earnings to estimate blue sky value. To download the report, click here.

Kerrigan Advisors also releases a monthly index, The KAR Index, composed of the seven publicly traded auto retail companies with operations focused on the US market.  The KAR Index is designed to track dealership valuation trends, while also providing key insights into factors influencing auto retail. To access the KAR Index™, click here.

Erin Kerrigan is Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors, and is a recognized industry expert on dealership valuation, real estate and buy/sells. A sought after commentator on automotive retailing topics ranging from consumer auto buying trends to auto retail consolidation to private equity in auto retail, she has keynoted numerous automotive conferences and her analysis has appeared in publications such as Automotive News and the Wall Street Journal.   

About Kerrigan Advisors

Kerrigan Advisors is a national dealership buy/sell advisory firm focused on providing a high level of client service for dealership sellers. Led by a team of veteran advisors who have represented transactions totaling over $2 billion dollars in automotive, private equity and investment banking, Kerrigan Advisors customizes each sale process to maximize the seller’s transaction proceeds. With the most comprehensive buyer database in the industry, Kerrigan Advisors has the industry context and expertise to match each seller with the right buyer.

Each quarter, Kerrigan Advisors publishes The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, which is the auto industry's most comprehensive and authoritative quarterly report and analysis of dealership buy/sell activity and franchise values.  Kerrigan Advisors’ Managing Director Erin Kerrigan, who authors the report, is a recognized industry expert on dealership valuation, real estate and buy/sells, and is a frequent speaker at leading auto retail events and conferences, including NADA, JD Power Automotive Roundtable, AICPA, NADC and Driving Sales’ President’s Club. She has also been a keynote speaker for events hosted by American Honda Motor Company, Audi of America, US Trust, Ohio Automobile Dealer Association, and SunTrust Bank and has led webinars for NADA and Automotive News.  Her expertise is also featured in a monthly column for Dealer Magazine. 

Kerrigan Advisors Media Contact:

Cassandra Cavanah (cassandra@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 818.397.4630
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340

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The Blue Sky Report™ released by Kerrigan Advisors analyzes dealership buy/sell activity for Q1 2016; overall activity, including multi-dealership transactions, size of groups coming into market and luxury import transactions, continues to rise; publics’ blue sky multiples decline: valuations at parity or below many private acquisition opportunities

Irvine, CA, June 7, 2016 – U.S. dealership buy/sell activity continued to rise in the first quarters of 2016, including growth in multi-dealership transactions, the size of groups coming into market, and luxury import transactions, according to The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, which today released analysis of the first quarter of 2016.  But, the report reveals, this activity was accompanied by a monumental shift in public market valuations of auto retail stocks, putting a chill on public company acquisition activity.  Year to date, The KAR Index™ (The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index) declined by 11.8% and is down 30% from its high in June 2015.

“For public companies to trade at parity with private dealership groups is highly unusual. In most industries, when public consolidators decline in value, private companies quickly follow suit,” said Erin Kerrigan, Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisor.  “This aberration may be explained by auto retail’s continued fragmentation and domination by private companies.  It should be noted that the publics represent just 8% of industry revenue and a minority of industry acquisitions. Nevertheless, these declines are something to be watched and could be a leading indicator for future blue sky values.”

The report from Kerrigan Advisors is the auto industry's most comprehensive and authoritative quarterly report and analysis of dealership buy/sell activity and franchise values. Laying out the high, average and low multiples for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments for the quarter, the report offers a detailed view of public and private company dealership acquisition activity. 

According to the report, key activities influencing trends in the first part of the year were the completion of a few very large acquisitions, including AutoNation’s purchase of the Allen Samuels Group in Texas and Fremont Private Holdings purchase of Morrie’s Automotive in Minnesota.  Among the leading buy/sell trends, The Blue Sky Report identifies the following three as shaping the market for the balance of 2016:

• Private buyers and new entrants dominating 2016’s buy/sell market
• Acquisition financing terms drive purchase price
• Blue sky values increasingly based on multi-year average earnings

“While the 2016 buy/sell market is expected to be as active as 2015’s, we anticipate greater pricing disparity as industry growth plateaus and dealership earnings come under pressure,” continued Kerrigan. “There seems to be a growing divide between the bid/ask spread in the buy/sell market. Sellers have very high pricing expectations, particularly in the luxury market, and buyers are increasingly challenged to achieve their return on investment requirements.”

The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, is published four times a year and includes Kerrigan Advisor’s signature blue sky charts, multiples and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. The multiples are based on Kerrigan Advisors’ view of franchise values in the current buy/sell market and can be applied to adjusted pre-tax dealership earnings to estimate blue sky value. To download the report, click here.

Kerrigan Advisors also releases a monthly index, The KAR Index, designed to help public and private auto retailers understand the true value of their dealerships, while also providing key insights into factors influencing valuations of these public companies, with broader implications for the auto industry as a whole. To access the KAR Index™, click here.

Erin Kerrigan is Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors, and is a recognized industry expert on dealership valuation, real estate and buy/sells. A sought after commentator on automotive retailing topics ranging from consumer auto buying trends to auto retail consolidation to private equity in auto retail, she has keynoted numerous automotive conferences and her analysis has appeared in publications such as Automotive News and the Wall Street Journal.   

About Kerrigan Advisors

Kerrigan Advisors is a national dealership buy/sell advisory firm focused on providing a high level of client service for dealership sellers. Led by a team of veteran advisors who have represented transactions totaling over $2 billion dollars in automotive, private equity and investment banking, Kerrigan Advisors customizes each sale process to maximize the seller’s transaction proceeds. With the most comprehensive buyer database in the industry, Kerrigan Advisors has the industry context and expertise to match each seller with the right buyer.

Each quarter, Kerrigan Advisors publishes The Blue Sky Report™, a Kerrigan Quarterly, which is the auto industry's most comprehensive and authoritative quarterly report and analysis of dealership buy/sell activity and franchise values.  Kerrigan Advisors’ Managing Director Erin Kerrigan, who authors the report, is a recognized industry expert on dealership valuation, real estate and buy/sells, and is a frequent speaker at leading auto retail events and conferences, including NADA, JD Power Automotive Roundtable, AICPA, NADC and Driving Sales’ President’s Club. She has also been a keynote speaker for events hosted by American Honda Motor Company, Audi of America, US Trust, Ohio Automobile Dealer Association, and SunTrust Bank and has led webinars for NADA and Automotive News.  Her expertise is also featured in a monthly column for Dealer Magazine. 

Kerrigan Advisors Media Contact:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340

Service customers at auto dealerships are intensely loyal -- but are older and spend less than customers of independent shops and chains, according to a recent survey.

So dealers must win converts with online promotions and prepaid programs, said Mike Martinez, chief marketer at DMEautomotive, the marketing firm that commissioned the survey.

Dealer loyalists, defined as those who spend the bulk of their service dollars at the dealership, are more than twice as likely to be 55 years old or older than people who typically get service at independent garages and service chains, the survey found.

Many independent garages specialize in vehicles on their second and third owners, who often are younger than new-car buyers. And the old vehicles frequently need more repairs than new vehicles.

The survey, of 4,000 random adults who had vehicles serviced in 2011, also looked at average annual spending by customers who were highly loyal to dealerships, independent garages or service chains. The 2011 figures: independent garages, $1,191; service chains, $1,178; dealerships, $1,105.

Loyalists of the service chains spend more even though dealership loyalists tend to be wealthier, more diligent in sticking to recommended service schedules and less sensitive to the price of service, Martinez said.

"The aftermarket chains are doing a better job of taking money away from dealers than dealers are taking money away from them."

You can reach David Barkholz at dbarkholz@crain.com.

Service customers at auto dealerships are intensely loyal -- but are older and spend less than customers of independent shops and chains, according to a recent survey.

So dealers must win converts with online promotions and prepaid programs, said Mike Martinez, chief marketer at DMEautomotive, the marketing firm that commissioned the survey.

Dealer loyalists, defined as those who spend the bulk of their service dollars at the dealership, are more than twice as likely to be 55 years old or older than people who typically get service at independent garages and service chains, the survey found.

Many independent garages specialize in vehicles on their second and third owners, who often are younger than new-car buyers. And the old vehicles frequently need more repairs than new vehicles.

The survey, of 4,000 random adults who had vehicles serviced in 2011, also looked at average annual spending by customers who were highly loyal to dealerships, independent garages or service chains. The 2011 figures: independent garages, $1,191; service chains, $1,178; dealerships, $1,105.

Loyalists of the service chains spend more even though dealership loyalists tend to be wealthier, more diligent in sticking to recommended service schedules and less sensitive to the price of service, Martinez said.

"The aftermarket chains are doing a better job of taking money away from dealers than dealers are taking money away from them."

You can reach David Barkholz at dbarkholz@crain.com.