mobile-menu-icon
GM Authority

Roughly 70 Percent Of GM’s U.S. Dealers Will Have Renovated Or Built Out New Facilities Since 2009

With over two-thirds of its U.S. dealers having renovated or rebuilt their facilities, General Motors is nearly finished with its dealer makeover program that started six years ago.

Back in 2009, the fresh-out-of-bankruptcy GM set out to overhaul the physical appearance of its dealer body. Presented to dealers as part of the Essential Brand Elements (EBE) incentive program, the initiative irritated many dealer owners and managers due to the large investment needed to revamp their stores, and to therefore to participate. Even so, roughly 2,450 stores, or about 57 percent of GM’s 4,300 U.S. dealers, have renovated or rebuilt their facilities as of this writing. Another 12 percent are under construction.

Chevy Dealer Renovation

This means that, by the time EBE 1.0 ends in 2016, roughly 70 percent of GM’s U.S. retail facilities that account for an estimated 83 percent of GM’s U.S. retail sales volume will have been freshly made over.

GM executives refer to the program as the most extensive makeover of an automotive dealership body in history that “has changed the face of our brands across the nation”. That is according to Alan Batey, who has served as president of GM North America since January 2014.

By the time the first iteration of EBE expires in 2016, GM will have invested over $5 billion over the seven years that it was in place. And it might not have been all for naught.

“We’ve gone, in my opinion, from being the worst to being the best in our facilities,” said Batey.

Meanwhile, General Motors and its Executive Dealer Council are working on a follow-up version of EVE unofficially dubbed EBE 2.0.

The GM Authority Take

Wonderful. Here’s to hoping that noteworthy sales gains will follow, especially for brands like Cadillac, which isn’t only enjoying a made-over dealer body, but also an all-new, highly-competitive lineup of vehicles.

The GM Authority staff is comprised of columnists, interns, and other reporters who provide coverage of the latest General Motors news.

Subscribe to GM Authority

For around-the-clock GM news coverage

We'll send you one email per day with the latest GM news. It's totally free.

Comments

  1. The dealer I work at, we finished up in June of 2013. Came out great but there was some corners cut that probably should have not been cut so bad.

    Reply
  2. what I find amusing is that the picture above is of a Chevrolet dealership, but there is only GMC’s and Buicks on the lot. lol

    Reply
    1. They’re all trade-ins 😉

      Reply
  3. Has there been any market share “increase”? That’s the question. This is a GM Management ego massage program.

    Reply
    1. The redone stores by themselves were never meant to increase market share. The product does that. What the stores can do is support the new product and present it in the best possible light (literally and figuratively).

      So you can think of the stores as the baseline for increasing market share. Add in an onslaught of new, much better product plus marketing and you have the recipe for market share growth. Improvements in brand opinion follow.

      What you can’t do is grow market share or your brand share with shitty stores.

      Reply
  4. I like the story’s lead photo of the refurbished Caddy dealership that still has a wreath sign.

    Reply
    1. The program began when the wreath was still around, before the new Crest logo. The photo is from then. Clearly the logo would have been changed. But to say that is to miss the point of the program entirely.

      Reply
      1. And it’s not even a photo. It’s a rendering.

        Reply
        1. If it’s a rendering, why wouldn’t you get it right? Photoshop-out the wreath? Just another GM oops.

          Besides, a real photo would have a lot full of unsold CTSs, ATSs and ERVs.

          But thanks for the lesson on rendering, dawg.

          Reply
          1. Let’s think clearly here: a rendering from when the program started. Hence 2009. Dawg.

            Reply
  5. Here is the deal.

    My local dealer is a good dealer but they were working out of a showroom and waiting area that dated back to 1972.

    Now my dealer has done the two story Chevy version and it is spectacular. They have a very warm and inviting showroom that has more than 4 cars in it. They have a hostess at the door. They have drive in bays for pick up and drop off for service.

    The waiting area has gone from a dungeon to a large open room with a 70 plus inch TV and a smaller TV for children. The is a hostess there with snacks coffee and soft drinks at no charge. The whole atmosphere and feeling has changed.

    This is what GM is working to do with their dealers as they want them to be a place you don’t mind spending an hour or two waiting vs. a dirty worn out building that you hate to be in.

    Reply
    1. That’s fantastic! Get back to all the Subaru, Honda, BMW drivers, etc., when u get your act together.

      Reply
      1. Care to elaborate on that ominous yet inaccurate statement?

        Reply

Leave a comment

Cancel