How often dealerships change hands
According to Kerrigan Advisors, dealers completed a record 462 transactions in the twelve months through June 2026, representing 724 franchises. Of those, 224 were completed between January and June 2026, according to Kerrigan Advisors. NADA counts 16,991 franchised light-vehicle dealers in the United States in its 2026 mid-year report.
Kerrigan counts transactions, and one transaction can include several stores, so its count and BSR's store records are different units. The Buy-Sell Report has recorded 622 buy-sell store records since June 2025, drawn from state license records and industry reporting; one record is one store, so a deal that moves several stores is several records.
For a vendor, the point is simple: across a book of a few hundred stores, some of your customers will change owners this year, and few of them will call to tell you.
Where an ownership change shows up
State dealer license records
Check the dealer license records your state's licensing agency publishes. Where a state publishes a list of license holders, a new legal entity at a familiar address can be the first public sign of a sale. What each state publishes, and how often it updates, varies: some offer a download, some a search, and some answer only a records request. Checking them store by store is slow, which is the work a tracker does for you.
Announcements by buy-sell advisors
Advisory firms that represent dealers in a sale may announce a closed deal on their own news pages. An announcement, where there is one, can trail the closing, and a sale without an advisor may never be announced at all. The broker directory lists the firms named as broker or advisor on BSR store records, alphabetically, with the states and brands where each appears, so you can see which firms work in your territory and watch their news pages.
Industry news
Trade publications and local business news report some sales. A single-store sale in a smaller market may get no coverage at all, so news alone leaves gaps in a book of regional accounts.
The store itself
Watch the store's own signals: a new dealer group logo or About page on its website, a new legal name on an invoice or a payment, or a new general manager. None of these proves a sale, but each is a reason to call and ask.
A store-record tracker
The Buy-Sell Report collects these signals into one record per store. Each month has a free activity page with that month's franchise dealership store records by type and by state, and its latest buy-sells that name a buyer or seller. Subscribers search every record by dealership, buyer, seller, brand or city, filter by state, brand and event type, see buyer, seller and broker detail, and export their results to CSV.
How to check one store you sell to
- Start with the latest months. Open the month index and the latest month pages, which show where the month's store records are by state and name the latest buy-sells. A subscriber searches the full list by the dealership's name or city.
- Read the store's website. Look at the About page, the footer and the staff page for a new group name or new managers.
- Check the state license list. Where your state publishes one, look for the store's address under a new license holder.
- Call and ask. Ask for your contact by name. If they have moved on, ask who now approves vendors.
Why hearing early matters
What happens to a vendor agreement in a sale is settled between the buyer and the seller. In an article for the California New Car Dealers Association, a dealer attorney writes that the agreements the buyer will assume should be listed in the sale agreement, and that many parties instead leave the question to be settled during the buy-sell process. Either way, your agreement is discussed around the closing, often before you hear about the sale. Our guide to what happens to vendor contracts when a dealership sells covers what that article says in full.
What to do once you know
- Reach the new owner's team. Ask who approves vendors now. Contact the incoming general manager or dealer principal rather than only your old contact.
- Read your agreement. Check who the contracting party is, whether the agreement can be assigned, and what it says about a sale or a change of ownership. Ask your own counsel what it means.
- Learn the buyer. If the buyer is a dealer group, find out what its other stores use. If they already use you, you are protecting a relationship; if they use a competitor, you are selling against it, and it helps to know which before the first call.
- Make continuing easy. Bring your results at the store, a clear transition plan and a named contact for the new team.
This page is general information, not legal advice.