Throughput improves at U.S. stores last year; Toyota holds top spot; dealership count dips

While the numbers of both U.S. dealerships and franchises dropped marginally in 2021, sales throughput for all outlets rose slightly last year, a recovery from the sizable drop in the industry's average new-vehicle sales per franchise in 2020, when the coronavirus outbreak stalled sales. The rest of the top 10 was rounded out by Kia, up one spot to No. 6; Hyundai, up two spots to No. 7; Mercedes-Benz, down three spots to No. 8; Nissan, down one to No. 9; and Audi, up one to No. 10. Mitch Phillips, global director of data for Urban Science, a Detroit consulting firm tracking dealership counts, told Automotive News that before Russia invaded Ukraine, he'd predicted throughput per store would rise about 5 percent in 2022.