The Dealer Profit Index aggregates anonymized data from dealerships using DealerInt. This report presents Q1 2026 benchmarks for override rates, margin loss, and recovery potential across US regions.

Executive Summary

Dealerships lose an estimated 2–5% of gross margin to unrecorded or poorly justified overrides. On a $50 million operation, that translates to $1–2.5 million annually. The loss is distributed across hundreds of small decisions—competitive matches, manager approvals, loyalty discounts—so it rarely shows up as a single line item.

The Q1 2026 Dealer Profit Index surveyed 382 dealerships. Average override rate: 4.8%. Franchise stores: 4.0–4.5%. Independent dealers: 5.2–6.1%. Southeast independents showed the highest at 6.1%. Margin loss attributed to overrides averaged 3.6% of gross. Recovery rate after implementing structured capture: 19.9% within one quarter.

Key Findings

Average override rate: 4.8% across all segments
Franchise vs independent: Franchise 4.0–4.5%; Independent 5.2–6.1%
Margin loss: Average 3.6% of gross attributed to overrides
Recovery rate: 19.9% average within one quarter of structured capture
Sample size: 382 dealerships

Regional Breakdown

Southeast independents show the highest override rate at 6.1%, followed by Northeast at 5.8%. Midwest franchise stores have the lowest at 3.9%. Recovery after structured capture is highest in Southeast (24%) and lowest in West (17%), indicating variance in policy rigor and adoption speed.

Implications for Dealership Profit

Dealership profit is directly tied to visibility. Stores that implement mandatory reason codes and structured capture see faster identification of leakage sources. The benchmark data suggests that dealers who capture every override and approval recover a meaningful portion of margin within 90 days.

Multi-location groups benefit most from comparative analytics. Stores in the same region often show 1–2 percentage point variance in override rates, pointing to policy and training differences rather than market conditions alone.

How to Use This Data

Compare your override rate to the benchmarks for your segment. If you are above the average, structured capture and executive reporting can help identify root causes. If you are below average, use the data to set internal targets and prove ROI to ownership.

Next Steps

DealerInt provides real-time override capture, executive reports, and peer benchmarks. See how your dealership compares and recover margin with decision intelligence.