McLEAN, Va. -

As some dealers express their ire over factory image programs, the National Automobile Dealers Association is investigating how much bang for their buck dealerships actually get from these renovations.

NADA has turned to industry consultant Glenn Mercer to conduct a study, which will attempt to measure how cost-effective these programs are.

The organization contends that dealers have to pump billions of dollars annually for factory image programs, and many are not too happy about it. According to NADA, its chairman Stephen Wade has crossed the country in recent months, and his discussions with dealers have spawned “one resounding concern” about the renovation programs from their respective OEMs.

“These investments have a significant impact on dealer balance sheets, in many cases severely straining them, and in some cases, even persuading a dealer to leave the business rather than commit to such a large investment,” Wade stressed,

“The perception today is that the decisions made by dealers on facility investments are often based on opinions, pressure and personalities, which is no way to guide significant spending,” he added. “We want to find out the truth so these important decisions can be based on facts, not perceptions.”

Wade continued: “By moving the facilities debate away from opinion and assertion and more towards facts and data, we expect the findings of the study to be extremely valuable to dealers and manufacturers alike.”

NADA anticipates the study will be wrapped up by late November. A white paper is expected by year’s end.