AUTOVATE podcast host Cliff Banks recently discusses the booming rise of dealership mergers and acquisitions with James “JT” Taylor, Managing Director of Automotive for Truist Securities, during the launch of the podcast’s second season.
Taylor, as AUTOVATE’s newsletter described, helped structure some of the industry’s largest transactions. During the podcast, he explores the current dealership mergers and acquisitions market, and discusses creative ways to finance transactions for dealers looking to add to their company portfolios.
At one point, Taylor said “the values have never been higher (and) there has been a wonderful increase in efficiency in most of our operations … the issue that I think most people have about this is that they don’t know what to do.”
He said the reality is that most people, when they come upon something that they are not certain will really happen, like electrified vehicles or the apparent threat of new car sales being guided by an agency model as opposed to a traditional franchise system — they don’t know what to do.
“It’s really difficult, still, to read the market and to make strategic decisions about what your future is going to look like,” said Taylor. “Dealers are awesome at the tactic … but forecasting and then including what is best for them as the shareholder has kinda become a new thing.”
To watch/listen to the full podcast, click here.
