“2025 delivers first full-year profit gain since 2021, despite decline in fourth-quarter earnings”
The latest Presidio-NCM Average Dealership Performance Benchmark closed out 2025 with fourth-quarter profit and vehicle margin declines for U.S. franchised dealerships. Average annual profits, however, are still nearly double 2019 levels.
Average dealership profitability slipped in the fourth quarter of 2025 as new-vehicle sales slowed in the absence of market catalysts that pulled demand forward earlier in the year. For 2025 overall, however, the average U.S. franchised dealership posted a profit increase over 2024, a bright spot in an otherwise volatile market. That annual gain made 2025 the first year since 2021 that dealership profits have risen after three years of steady declines from pandemic-fueled highs.
Net pretax profit for the average franchised dealership fell 9.7% in the fourth quarter compared with the same period in 2024, reflecting industrywide margin compression and demand pull-forward that slowed year-end sales. The average store’s revenue slipped 1.4% to $21.95 million in the quarter.