U.S. light-vehicle dealerships have an annual payroll of $66.6 billion, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association’s (NADA) midyear NADA Data 2019 report.
Through the end of June, 16,741 new-car dealership franchises directly employed more than 1.1 million people.
Annual payroll has risen nearly two percent since 2017, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employees’ average annual earnings were $71,916 in 2017 and $72,800 in 2018, a 1.3-percent increase.
Dealerships also support hundreds of thousands of jobs in their local communities.
“Dealers are committed to their employees and strengthening the U.S. and local economies. Hence, for the past several years, dealership employees have seen steady increases in their incomes as well as in their total compensation,” Patrick Manzi, NADA senior economist, said. “In fact, jobs at dealerships offer higher salaries relative to other retail sectors, and dealers continue to boast one of the highest average salaries of all industries.”
A total of 8.41 million light-duty vehicles were sold through the end of June, with sales of more than $518 billion.
Service and parts sales were more than $62 billion.
NADA’s bi-annual financial report examined the retail automotive industry from January to the end of June. It also highlighted industry milestones.