When AMREF was first formed, we established two big-ticket goals: First, provide store-specific industry data for NMEDA’s QAP dealers so they could have reliable benchmarking data on their operations; this became the Dealer Benchmark Report. Second, create a high-level industry report that looked at the QAP dealer data in the aggregate; this became the Auto Mobility State of the Industry Report.
Step one for the new foundation was to form the AMREF Dealer Data Task Force, made up of Chad Blake of United Access, Corey Kupsh of A&J Mobility, Eric Mansfield of Mobility Works, and AMREF executive director Danny Langfield.
When the Task Force first met to discuss the highest-level concepts of the Dealer Benchmark Report, it was immediately recognized that some sort of apples-to-apples comparison mechanism would need to be in place if we were planning to have dealers view their own numbers against national averages. Clearly a store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is operating in a very different environment than one in, say, Orlando, Florida.
After significant deliberation, it was determined that the most relevant variable for our purposes was the number of potential customers within a certain radius of a dealer’s location. Thus, the following Location Market Areas were established:
- Small Market: 0 – 499,999 area population*
- Medium Market: 500,000 – 1,249,999
- Large Market: 1,250,000 – 2,499,999
- Metro Market: 2,500,000+
- *Population within a 25-mile radius of the dealership’s postal code.
With the tap of a button, QAP dealers can utilize their customized Dealer Benchmark Report to compare each of their individual locations against the overall averages for small, medium, large and metro market areas.
Looking at the data from a higher level, the Auto Mobility State of the Industry Report breaks down each of the key categories in the Dealer Benchmark Report and provides the overall industry total as well as a side-by-side comparison of the averages for small, medium, large and metro location market areas in each category.
AMREF is delighted to be able to provide these first-ever looks at auto mobility data, and we are very excited about future year reports, which, among other advancements, will include year over year trend analysis. Stay tuned…