Hendrick Automotive dominates Reputation rankings for fourth straight year

Hendrick Automotive continued to see strong reputation scores throughout 2024, maintaining its dominance among private dealership groups and finishing the year more than 90 points ahead of the second runner-up.

Driving the news: The North American Automotive Industry Rankings report from Reputation uses data ranging from online reviews, social media engagement and search engine rankings to compare retailers based on customer satisfaction and visibility. Reputation scores retailers on a 1,000-point scale.

• Hendrick topped the private dealership group category for the fourth straight year.

• Hendrick is followed by Ken Ganley in second place, Holman in third place, Findlay in fourth place and Swickard in fifth place. Reputation’s rankings for private dealerships include hundreds of entries.

• Among public dealership groups, Penske came in first, dethroning 2023’s winner AutoNation with a 30-point lead. AutoNation still came in second, followed by Group 1, Sonic and Asbury. Only seven public dealership groups operate in the U.S.

Stronger review scores directly translate into more sales. According to Reputation, dealers who see an increase of 150 points boost sales volumes by an average of 10%. This year, all 152 of the top performers in Reputation’s study earned scores over 900, a new milestone for the report.

Zooming out: Reputation’s report also includes automakers, using similar criteria to determine brand rankings.

• Subaru reclaimed the top spot among nonluxury brands, improving from No. 2 last year.

• Lexus climbed to the No. 1 position for luxury brands, edging out 2023 leader Infiniti.

Zooming in: Earning a spot on the top five dealers requires strong customer engagement and careful brand cultivation. While it may seem counter-intuitive, one of the most important aspects of branding is work culture.

Swickard Automotive, which placed fifth overall in its category, achieved its reputation by assembling the strongest team possible.

• According to Jeff Swickard, Dealer Principal at Swickard Automotive, this required a welcoming culture that stood out to customers and employees alike.

• “The better you treat people, whether its customers or employees–they’re experts at knowing whether you care or don’t—they will come, customers, technicians, whoever. When there’s a recruitment problem, it typically means our culture isn’t strong enough to pull the people in…Customers are experts at knowing whether our people are happy or not.” — Jeff Swickard

Matt Murray, Founder and CEO of reputation management firm Widewail, and Jake Hughes, Widewail’s Director of Marketing, also shared sound advice for dealers looking to boost their online ratings.

• Murray and Hughes recommend that dealers focus on core issues like price transparency and proactive communication among sales team members.

• Educating employees on EVs will be especially important to success — negative reviews criticizing staff helpfulness and knowledge are 72% and 76% higher among EV buyers than ICE buyers.

• Educating staff members on electric drivetrains will be especially important in the years ahead. Customers consistently cite a lack of knowledge about EVs and hybrids in negative reviews mentioning employees.

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