Although average dealership profits have steadily declined over the past few years, a new industry report from Haig shows that they rebounded substantially in the second quarter. From earnings to gross profits on vehicle sales, the firm says downward trends appear to be turning around—and it forecasts a similar environment for the remainder of the year.
Driving the news: According to the Q2 2025 Haig report, the average publicly owned dealership generated $1.2 million in pre-tax profit during the second quarter, representing a 25.8 percent increase year over year. In the trailing 12-month (TTM) period ending in June, the average store from publicly traded retailers made $4.2 million, marking a 5.1 percent jump from $4 million in the TTM period ending last December.
For context: Average dealership earnings figures have been declining since peaking at $6.8 million in 2022 and falling to $5.3 million in 2023.
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Additionally, new vehicle gross profits jumped to $3,284 in Q2, marking an increase of $149 from Q1, while used vehicle gross profits also saw a modest increase.
The firm says the figures mark a “positive inflection point following three years of steady declines.”
As for the key factor behind the recent uptick, the report points to renewed vehicle demand, boosted in part by tariffs and sustained strength in fixed operations.
Haig advises taking the surge with a grain of salt, however, as Q2 last year was abnormally weak due to the CDK outage. This makes Q2 2025 appear extra inflated when considering the TTM period and year-over-year implications. Still, the firm says the figures shouldn’t be entirely discounted, as they do paint a picture of a refreshingly healthy quarter.
What’s next: The firm is also predicting a relatively profitable, albeit noisy, remainder of the year for owners of most franchises, assuming there aren’t too many major changes to the Trump administration’s current tariff policies.
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