Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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based in Collinsville, Ill., has been in business for 22 years and has four locations in Illinois and Missouri. Birger racked up an impressive 537 units over his 2010 total, finishing 2011 with 4,813 retail sales. The Top 50 Based on the numbers submitted by the Top 50 Independent Dealers this year, things are continuing to improve in the world of used vehicle retailing, despite recent inventory supply chal- lenges. The Top 50 Independ- ents retailed a total of 105,716 units in 2011, a huge increase of 16,321 over 2010 numbers. The average number of units retailed in 2011 by a Top 50 Independent Dealer was 2,114, a significant increase over the previous year's average of 1,787. The number of total retail sales among the Top 50 ranged from 7,407 to 720. While this year's Top 50 achieved much higher numbers compared to last year, they collectively operate only 10 more locations—134 total locations compared to 124 last year. The average number of locations per dealer is two, with only four dealers operating 10 or more locations and 14 dealers (28 percent) operating between two and nine locations. Second-place finisher Right- way Automotive operates the largest number of locations, 18. The average number of units retailed per location for this year's Top 50 is 176 per month. Of the Top 50, 32 dealers op- erate a single location. For the second year in a row, Steve Hall of driversselect in Dallas, Texas, achieved the highest retail sales numbers among single-location dealers while also topping his previous year's figures. Hall sold a total of 3,153 retail pre-owned units in 2011, over 700 more than his 2010 total. A total of 26 states are represented in this year's Top 50, and the average dealer among the Top 50 has been in business 24 years. Fifty percent have been in business 20 years or more, and 10 percent have celebrated a golden anniversary. It seems the bar was set a little higher this year and maintaining last year's place- ment or moving up on the list was difficult for the dealers who returned this year from the 2011 list, despite the fact that many saw increases in sales over the previous year. A great example of this can be seen with Mohamad El Zein, Hussein Zein and Salim El Zein of the Zein Auto Group in Everett, Wash. Their three-location operation saw a whopping 972-unit increase over the previous year's num- bers, yet they did not move up in ranking from last year, maintaining their placement in the 12th position. Of the 40 returning dealers, only six dealers who ap- peared on last year's list were able to move up in the rankings, including Tracy Myers of Frank Myers Auto Maxx in Winston-Salem, N.C., who moved up to 15th place from last year's 27th-place ranking; Ted Heater, along with Jonathan Bishard, of CarSmart Auto Sales in Kansas City, Mo., moving from 29th to 20th; Brett Stacy of eCarLink in Addison, Texas., who went from 32nd to 26th; Ken Smith and Eric Smith of Frontier Leasing and Sales, Inc. in Coeur d' Alene, Id., climbing a couple spots from 31st to 29th; Lee Yoder and Warren Yoder at Herbies Auto Sales in Greeley, Colo., who nudged up one place from last year's ranking to 37th; and Nathan Buche of Auto Express in Lafayette, Ind., who jumped from 49th to 38th this year. 24