Each year, Kerrigan Advisors conducts what it calls the Kerrigan Dealer Survey, which polls hundreds of automotive dealerships in the U.S. to determine a variety of factors – including how many “trust” the brands whose vehicles they sell. In that regard, Ford ranked at the very bottom as nearly half of its dealers said that they don’t trust the automaker in 2023, but The Blue Oval rebounded in a major way in the 2024 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, posting the highest increase of any brand as 11 percent of Ford dealers said they have a high level of trust in the automaker, while 52 percent have a moderate level of trust, and 37 percent expressed that they have no trust. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with Lincoln dealers.
The 2024 version of the Kerrigan Dealer Survey was just released, and after polling more than 630 retailers, it found that just three percent of Lincoln dealers have a high level of trust in the luxury brand, compared to 44 percent who said they have a moderate level of trust, and 53 percent that stated they have no trust. That latter figure ranks Lincoln behind all of its peers except for Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram, or Stellantis, which had 72 percent of dealers express zero trust in the company. Toyota ranked first yet again as 83 percent of its dealers have a high level of trust in that company, which is roughly 3.5 times higher than the mean of 24 percent.
As for why so few Lincoln dealers have a high level of trust in the brand, there are a few potential factors. For starters, after requiring Lincoln dealers to dole out substantial investments to upgrade their showrooms back in 2019, the automaker began working to cut its existing dealer network in half in early 2024. Then, last last January, Lincoln opted to put its EV sales program on hold – later nixing it altogether amid major dealer backlash – and a couple of months later, President Dianne Craig admitted that the brand is no longer “focused” on EVs at all after previously planning to vastly expand its lineup in that regard.
Kerrigan Advisors is the leading exclusive sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide. Since its founding in 2014, the firm has led the industry with the sale of over 280 auto dealerships representing $9 billion in client proceeds, including the third largest transaction in auto retail history – the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group. Kerrigan Advisors advises the industry’s leading dealership groups, enhancing value through the lifecycle of growing, operating and, when the time is right, selling their businesses. Led by a team of veteran industry experts with backgrounds in investment banking, private equity, consulting, accounting, finance and real estate, we not take listings nor do we employ a brokerage model; rather we develop a customized sales approach for each client to achieve their personal and financial goals. In addition to the firm’s sell-side advisory services, Kerrigan Advisors also provides a suite of automobile dealership consulting and investor services including growth strategy, market valuation assessments, capital allocation, transactional due diligence, open point proposals, operational improvement and real estate due diligence.
Kerrigan Advisors monitors conditions in the buy/sell market and publishes an in-depth analysis each quarter in The Blue Sky Report®, the industry authority on dealership buy/sell market trends and valuations and includes Kerrigan Advisors’ signature blue sky charts, multiples and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. To download a preview of the report, click here. The firm also releases The Kerrigan Index™ comprised of the seven publicly traded auto retail companies with operations focused on the US market. The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index is designed to track dealership valuation trends, while also providing key insights into factors influencing auto retail. To access The Kerrigan Index™, click here. To read the 2024 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, click here. To read the 2024 Kerrigan OEM Survey, click here. Kerrigan Advisors also is the co-author of NADA’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Dealership.
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