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Hidden in plain sight: Why dealers shouldn’t overlook this underrated brand

Hidden in plain sight: Why dealers shouldn’t overlook this underrated brand

The fundamentals are there but the recognition isn’t

Anna del Villar & Car Dealership Guy
May 15, 2025

Hey, everyone — April was the busiest month for wholesale auctions since July 2020.

652,315 units were sold (up 12.6% YoY), according to the National Auto Auction Association.

The big driver? Strong dealership sales pulling in fresh trades.

And with dealers stocking up to mitigate uncertainty, auction floors are on fire in a way we haven’t seen for long time.

—CDG

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Welcome to The Breakdown, an analysis of auto retail’s top trends, moves, and insights—in under 5 minutes.

Sales-wise, Chevrolet just notched its best April since 2016. The product is clicking. Margins are up. And inventory is lean but moving.

So, when I asked dealers in a recent survey about their most desirable brands to own, I was shocked to find out that neither Chevy or GM made the top 10.

So, I did what CDG does. I started talking to dealers and digging into the data, and I walked away convinced that Chevy might be one of the most overlooked (and increasingly attractive) brands in auto retailing. Here are the reasons why…

1. Chevy’s product mix is resonating with customers and boosting dealership sales.

Chevrolet is quietly stacking wins across nearly its entire lineup.

Just take a look at the numbers from Q1…

Data via General Motors

“These models are very well positioned,” said Andy Guelcher, Dealer Principal at Mohawk Chevrolet. “We’re building products people want to buy.”

And they’re not just turning... they’re grossing. Andy says new car margins are up 15% since December, driven by inventory discipline and segment-level demand. It’s the kind of performance dealers are used to seeing from imports (not domestics).

“That tells me we’re building a product that can compete,” he said.

And Alan Haig, founder of the buy/sell firm Haig Partners, agrees. “The product they have to offer right now is the best they’ve ever had," he told.

The potential pitfall: Not every product fits every market, and not every dealer sees the same potential. “We do sell some of the Blazer EVs,” said Christian Crain, VP of Operations at Crain Automotive, “but it’s definitely not the future of Chevrolet" in his region. The product portfolio is strong, but without the right mix and allocation, opportunity can get bottlenecked.

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2. Inventory discipline is helping dealerships preserve margins.

GM locked in a 50–60 day supply nationwide strategy for Chevrolet dealers in February. For some retailers, it’s the clearest sign yet that post-pandemic lessons have reshaped how GM runs its business. Gone are the days of overproduction and bloated incentives. Now, it's all about a leaner, margin-first strategy.

Data via Cox Automotive

And dealers who operate in line with GM’s expectations are benefitting. Andy noted that when vehicles are built and allocated properly (especially models like the 2026 Equinox) dealers don’t need to discount. Supply is lean enough to sustain grosses, and demand is high enough to preserve discipline.

But not every market can run on constraint.

Dealers in the South Central region (like Christian) are exceeding targets but are still limited by what GM is willing to allocate. “If we had the same amount of inventory as GMC... we’d be doing 10x better,” he said.

The potential pitfall: The 60-day model may optimize margin at the corporate level, but it limits throughput at the store level. High-turn operators aren’t getting rewarded with more inventory, and production remains skewed toward smaller SUVs over higher-volume trucks and full-size SUVs. GM might be protecting margins, but dealers have lost control of a key growth lever.

3. Profitability is rising at Chevy stores, and so are blue sky multiples.

According to the Q4 2024 Haig Report, Chevrolet’s blue sky multiple (the goodwill portion of a dealership's purchase price) increased 0.25x to 3.75x–4.75x, outpacing Stellantis and Ford but still trailing Toyota and Honda.

Data via Haig Partners

The reasons? In addition to sales, Chevrolet’s mix of blue-collar trucks, government fleets, and aging ICE volume means more fixed-ops work, and dealers are profiting. But some of that strength is tied to product quality issues (e.g. powertrain recalls), which means the same vehicles generating service RO can also raise long-term brand risk.

Alan credits the bump, in part, to GM’s steadier leadership. Mary Barra hasn’t made Stellantis-style missteps (mass price hikes, model cuts), or followed Ford’s erratic EV strategy.

Still, why didn't Chevrolet make the top 10 most desirable brands for acquisition in our survey?

A lot of it comes down to simple economics. Chevrolet has far more rooftops than most import brands, which limits exclusivity and puts downward pressure on valuations. Buyers also can’t count on inventory allocation scaling with performance—making it harder to forecast growth.

The potential pitfall: Scarcity drives valuation and Chevrolet doesn’t have it. “If you're selling a Chevy store, a buyer's got several options,” Alan said. In contrast, a Toyota store might be the only game in town. Without network consolidation or more predictable inventory controls, Chevrolet stores may keep delivering cash flow—but struggle to command premium valuations.

At the end of the day...

Chevrolet is performing like a top-tier brand, but it’s still being valued like a middle-of-the-pack one. That won’t change until buyers see more predictability in allocation and a path to real store-level scale. Whether that shift is underway or not, will likely be revealed in our next dealer survey.