CBT News: Dave Cantin explains what’s driving demand for luxury dealerships
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Watch more from the latest Inside M&A episode with Dave Cantin, who joins Jim Fitzpatrick on CBT News to break down why luxury remains one of the most sought-after assets in automotive retail.
The current market has an imbalance where every buyer wants luxury assets, but sellers who own them aren’t in a hurry to part with them. That scarcity is pushing buyers into unfamiliar territory, entering new geographic regions specifically to land the right luxury franchise, even when the deal comes bundled with less desirable, non-luxury stores.
The reason comes down to portfolio value. A luxury rooftop doesn’t just perform well on its own. It lifts the value of everything else in a buyer’s portfolio.
Why luxury
DCG’s own transaction from the sale of Midwetern Auto Group data shows just how active the luxury segment has become.
Porsche
Porsche’s liquidity has more than tripled since pre-2021 levels, cementing its status as what Dave Cantin calls the crown jewel of the automotive space, even with its substantial image facility requirements. From 2024 through 2026, DCG tracked 19 Porsche transactions, representing nearly 10% of all Porsche rooftops nationwide.
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz closed 8 transactions in the first half of 2026 alone, already surpassing its entire transaction volume from the previous decade.
Ferrari
Of the roughly 40 Ferrari franchises across North America, 9 have changed hands in the past 36 months, representing about 20% of the total Ferrari dealer body.
Sale of Midwestern Auto Group to Jeff Wyler Automotive
What This Means for Dealers Considering a Sale
Despite broader economic uncertainty, Dave Cantin says dealership profitability and buyer demand remain strong, particularly in the luxury segment. Increaded transaction volume typically signals that sellers are getting the valuations they want and buyers have the financial capacity to close.
For dealers weighing a sale to treat succession planning as a multiyear process, not a last-minute decision. Luxury franchises remain among the most valuable long-term assets a dealer group can hold, and the current market rewards owners who plan ahead rather than react.
About Dave Cantin Group
Dave Cantin Group is a leading automotive M&A advisory firm specializing in acquisitions, divestitures, platform management, business evaluations, and other corporate development services. The new retail reality requires automotive dealers to seek DCG’s collective best thinking, deep experience and extensive industry relationships to effectively leverage M&A as a core business strategy.
Clients choose DCG because we are a trusted advisor focusing on long-term relationships, investing in data and research, and engaging our entire team on every client project. Clients benefit from our industry-leading market intelligence – our Market Outlook Report – and JumpIQ, our proprietary AI-enabled platform delivering unprecedented visibility into automotive retail.
Our nonprofit initiative, DCG Giving, funds child and adolescent cancer research and treatment across the United States and supports other charitable causes important to the automotive retail community. To learn more, visit davecantingroup.com.
