Using its new AI-powered data-mining software, retail automotive advisory firm Dave Cantin Group (DCG) can now provide accurate, reliable data-driven valuations for any new-car dealership in the United States, regardless of brand, location or direct input from the dealership.
“Our proprietary Jump IQ software provides a significant advantage to automotive dealers who work with the Dave Cantin Group,” DCG Founder and CEO Dave Cantin said. “With Jump IQ, Dave Cantin Group owns accurate, reliable real-time data that directly improves our ability to secure successful M&A outcomes for our clients.”
DCG’s proprietary software ingests over 250 million data points – and processes billions of data points – to create dynamic, real-time profiles of all 18,000+ U.S. franchise dealerships. The AI-powered software then uses that data to accurately and reliably establish financial information, performance data and an overall valuation for each franchise dealership. Additionally, it includes a tool to compare any subset of dealerships to one another: any brand, any geography, in real time.
Development of the software began in late 2022 and DCG has been testing it with industry stakeholders for the past six months. DCG will begin widespread use of Jump IQ in its core M&A acquisitions business this June and expects the greatest immediate benefit to be with automotive groups actively seeking to acquire dealerships that are not listed for sale. DCG Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and AI veteran Bruce Molloy leads the Jump IQ mission internally.
“More than half of the deals done in retail automotive are initiated by a buyer looking for a targeted acquisition,” Cantin said. “With Jump IQ, when we sit down with a buy-side client, we can model and pull up information with respect to any dealership on a big screen and strategically identify top targets based on geography, brand, revenue, performance or any number of other criteria. When we use that data to engage a target dealership’s principal to gauge interest in a possible divestiture, we’re informed and can engage with the assurance that our buyer’s interest is truly qualified.”
DCG is introducing a fee-for-service advisory model in conjunction with the rollout of Jump IQ that will allow automotive groups to work with DCG to leverage Jump IQ for strategic platform management. Later this year, DCG will expand its advisory offerings to include a Jump IQ-powered service that will allow the company to look at over 40 dealership key performance indicators (KPIs) and advise clients on where the greatest opportunity for optimizing performance for enterprise value exists within their dealerships and platforms.
Data outcomes have been tested against actuals from cooperating dealers, and already, Jump IQ is testing within a 1% to 9% variance across all key financials and KPIs. These outcomes will continue to improve as Jump IQ use increases. Jump IQ is only available via DCG.