Economic stability in the country gives businessmen the opportunity to think about long-term investments that can potentially bring significant profits. These types of business, in particular, include the opening of a car dealership for the sale of new cars.
Despite the fact that the car market in Russia is approaching oversaturation, an unoccupied niche can be found. This applies to both a particular car brand and the region of its sale. However, you need to seriously study the potential market so that significant investments are not wasted, and your salon does not close due to unprofitability.
The first steps
To open your own car dealership, first of all, you need to register an enterprise, choose the form of ownership and activity codes, register with the tax service. After that, you can start negotiations with car manufacturers. Keep in mind that many automobile concerns make rather strict requirements for their dealers, and some even require that only cars of their brands be in the showroom. The location of your future salon, its area, design, the availability of additional services, such as the sale of original spare parts, authorized service, and a test drive, depend on these requirements.
Having concluded a letter of intent with one or more manufacturers, you can start looking for a suitable premises or building it. You will need a large enough area that will allow you to present the maximum assortment. The main costs of opening a car dealership are connected just with the premises and can vary from half a million dollars in the regions to two to three million dollars in the capital. Naturally, the price range depends not only on the cost of land and construction work, but also on the requirements of a particular car manufacturer.
Preparation for opening
In general, the optimal cost of opening a car dealership "from scratch" is considered to be in the range of $ 700 thousand in the regions and up to $ 4-5 million in Moscow. At the same time, the net profit of the salon rarely exceeds 2% of the turnover, so the payback does not come earlier than in five years.
It will be necessary to resolve the issue with logistics, that is, the channel for the delivery of finished cars from the manufacturer to your salon. As a rule, large auto concerns with their representative offices in Russia organize delivery and customs clearance themselves, but there are also those who do not provide such services, so you will have to look for a carrier, deal with insurance and customs clearance yourself.
As for an advertising campaign, in most cases ready-made advertising materials, as well as recommendations for its implementation, are also provided by manufacturers, but if you work with an unknown brand, you will also have to budget for activities aimed at drawing attention to your organization.
For a manufacturer to perceive you as an effective dealer, your dealership will need to make a certain minimum number of sales per year. In the case of cars of the middle price segment, it will be necessary to sell about a hundred units of equipment per year, while the lower bar for more expensive cars is usually about 70 units per year.
