Study: U.S. Dealership Count, Average Sales Remain Flat

The number of separate dealerships in the U.S. and the average sales per store were essentially unchanged again last year, says Detroit-based Urban Science Applications Inc.

The market analysis firm notes that the U.S. dealer franchise system has been unusually stable over the past six years. One indicator: 96% of local markets had virtually no change in their number of operational dealerships.

Urban Science says the overall dealership count in the U.S. advanced by 83 to 18,170 last year. The average number of vehicles sold per location was 965, the same as in 2015.