Recently published figures from Automotive News suggest that the dealership networks for U.S. automakers have changed dramatically since the early-1960s. For one thing, the Big Three’s total number of franchises — 19,249 as of January 2024 — has fallen from almost 39,000 in 1994 and 46,000 in 1962 (Automotive News, 1995; Edwards, 1965; Howe, 2024).
In addition, General Motors and Stellantis have fewer dealers that exclusively sell only one of the corporation’s brands. The change was most stark with Stellantis’s domestic brands, where only 49 Jeep dealers were exclusive. Chrysler, Dodge and Ram are only sold through dualed dealerships.
Also see ‘1966-69 VIP: Why Plymouth couldn’t sell brougham’
Stellantis’s dealer network has come a long way since 1962, when 33 percent of 9,786 franchises were exclusive. Eighty-one percent of Dodge’s franchises were exclusive, as were 34 percent of Plymouth’s. This reflected a Chrysler Corporation structuring of its dealer network in 1960 that included delinking Plymouth and Dodge dealers.
In the short run that appears to have resulted in more stand-alone Plymouth dealers (PeugFra, 2018). However, in time that led to a rivalry between Dodge and Chrysler-Plymouth dealer networks that resulted in too much product overlap. Recent efforts to integrate the automaker’s dealer networks has allowed that overlap to be eliminated.
Each of the Big Three have shrunken dealer networks
General Motors has also seen a dramatic reduction in the number of exclusive dealers — from 9,055 in 1962 to only 2,138 in 2024. This partly reflects the discontinuance of Oldsmobile and Pontiac, but remaining brands also saw big drops in their number of exclusive brands.
In January 2024 only nine out of 1,062 Buick dealers were exclusive compared to 1,409 out of 3,118 total dealers in 1962. Meanwhile, Chevrolet had 1,776 exclusive outlets in 2024 compared to 4,812 in 1962.
Also see ‘Bigger didn’t prove to be better for General Motors in late-70s and 80s’
The Ford Motor Company was the only member of the Big Three that saw an increase in its proportion of exclusive dealers between 1962 and 2024. That mainly reflected the discontinuance of Mercury. In 1962, 17 percent of that brand’s outlets were exclusive.
GM continues to have the most number of car and light-truck dealers among the Big Three but has less than a third as many as in 1962 (4,015 versus 13,835). Ford saw a similarly dramatic drop (3,027 versus 7,928). Stellantis’s decline was more modest (2,463 versus 5,823).
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RE:SOURCES
- Automotive News 1995. Market Data Book. “New-car franchises in the United States.” Published May 24: p.105 (no link available).
- Edwards, Charles E.; 1965. Dynamics of the United States Automobile Industry. University of South Carolina Press.
- Howe, Gail Kachadourian; 2024. “Fewer dealerships, higher throughput in ’23.” Automotive News. Posted March 4.
- PeugFra; 2022. “Exclusive Plymouth Dealers.” For C-Bodies Only. Posted Aug. 15.
Keep in mind the dealerships are larger on the average than the ones 60 years ago. Also, I do not know if it is reflected in the above statistics, but there is a trend for dealers to own more than one location.
I’m surprised by the existence of stand-alone Plymouth dealerships in 1962. I had always understood that while this had been the plan, Plymouth was only decoupled from Dodge (resulting in the introduction of the 1960 Dart), and it remained dualled with either DeSoto or Chrysler, and then sold by Chrysler-Plymouth dealers after DeSoto’s demise.
The auto histories I have access to tend to be squishy on this point, but my impression is that the initial reconfiguration in 1960 paired Plymouth with Valiant and DeSoto. When DeSoto was discontinued and Valiant became a Plymouth, that resulted in at least some standalone Plymouth dealers. One source says Plymouth and Chrysler divisions were consolidated in 1962 when Lynn Townsend took over (go here). And I have found owner’s manuals as early as 1962 refer to a “Service Department, Chrysler-Plymouth Division,” although brochures have referred to a “Plymouth Division” through 1967. I haven’t found an ad that was explicitly branded “Chrysler-Plymouth” until 1971.
I vaguely recall when Plymouth closed down articles mentioned there were something like seven stand alone Plymouth dealerships. I didn’t think there were any. As far as Valiant being a separate make in 1960, this was pretty much a technicality like the 1958-60 Continentals. They were always considered Plymouths by the public. Also with deSoto’s demise, the largest D/P dealer in Chicago IMMEDIATELY changed its jingle from deSoto-Plymouth to Chrysler Plymouth.
The big driver in the shuttering of dealer franchises was Obama’s “auto czar” Steve Rattner in 2009 as a part of the “bailouts” of Cerebus-Chrysler and General (a.k.a. “Government Motors”) Motors. In Indiana, all Chrysler dealers became Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep (and then Ram) outlets. Most Chevy dealers stayed Chevy outlets, but Buick-Pontiac-G.M.C. dealers became, of course, Buick-Jimmy dealers. I wonder how many standalone Lincoln dealers there are. I know of only one in Indiana !