Effective automotive network planning for dealerships begins with establishing a comprehensive understanding of your customer base - who they are, where they live, and how they behave - so site decisions can reflect what’s actually taking place in the market.
Using a blend of location intelligence, specialist automotive data and advanced analytics, GMAP provides market-leading insight that businesses across the automotive sector can use to make effective expansion and performance decisions.
Whether you’re assessing a single location or reviewing the entire network, we have the tools and expertise needed to facilitate confident, future-facing decision-making.
What does automotive network planning help you achieve?
Automotive network and location planning supports broader and more effective planning by helping businesses identify potential opportunity and risk, as well as how in tune a network is with current market conditions.
Through automotive planning, GMAP can help you:
- Assess market coverage and identifying opportunity areas
- Understand where overlap may be affecting overall efficiency
- Assess the causes of underperformance at both a site and area level.
- Test likely outcomes before any changes are made
- Support stronger, future-focused decision-making for dealer network development
Who is automotive network planning for?
GMAP’s automotive planning services are designed to aid businesses looking to make stronger strategic decisions about their dealer network and market coverage.
Clients typically include:
- OEMs and automotive brands reviewing network strategy and market coverage
- Dealer network development teams assessing potential site changes
- Dealer groups looking at performance and growth opportunities
- Teams responsible for EV charger location strategy, EV charge point site selection and charging infrastructure roll-outs
- Strategy and planning teams building location-based investment cases
How GMAP supports your automotive planning
GMAP offers tailored consultancy, software, and specialist data to assist automotive businesses in analysing the wider market, evaluating network performance, modelling future outcomes, and adjusting to emerging requirements, such as EV charger location strategy or EV charge point site selection.
Consultancy support
GMAP’s consultancy support is designed to answer the specific network and market questions you may have, such as gap and overlap analysis, market opportunity assessments, underperformance diagnosis, and scenario testing around proposed network changes.
The typical support offered includes:
- Reviewing existing network coverage and structure
- Identifying potential for expansion or optimisation
- Analysing the likely outcomes of location changes
- Supporting internal decision-making on individual location planning and the wider network with clear evidence and recommendations
Data inputs
Strong automotive planning requires the right combination of network, market and geographic data. The automotive and location intelligence GMAP offers draws on client data, automotive market data, consumer insight and geospatial analysis inputs.
Depending on the brief, this can include:
- Client network and performance data.
- Automotive market data such as registrations, EV adoption indicators, and vehicle parc data.
- Consumer data and demographics
- Competitor locations, drive-time analysis and catchment data.
- Area-based analysis showing where opportunity or constraint exists.
The exact data mix can be altered to suit the market, location, and planning aims
Tools and platforms
GMAPs planning services can be supplemented with software and scenario modelling tools that ensure network analysis is consistent and accessible.
This includes location intelligence capability and IMPACT, GMAP’s bespoke and client-specific tool for testing how potential site changes may affect the wider network.
Why GMAP?
Over 40 years in, GMAP’s purpose is still the same: transforming location-based data into clear planning decisions. This makes it a strong fit for automotive businesses, with proven experience in providing organisations with a head start over competitors.
Clients work with GMAP on automotive network and location planning because we:
- Deliver customer targeting data, location intelligence software, and consultancy from a single fully integrated team
- Embed consumer insight directly into location planning instead of treating it as a separate entity - further enhancing the overall process
- Provide access to established datasets, including CAMEO geodemographics and DVLA automotive data
- Produce outputs that are transparent and decision-ready
- Offer specialist expertise in location planning and geospatial analysis.
Talk to us
If you are searching for greater support in automotive network and location planning, GMAP is here to help. Speak to our team about your objectives, existing challenges, and the level of support required.
If you’re looking to enhance and optimize your dealer network, we can help put it into practice,
Contact our team today
FAQs
Can GMAP help us identify gaps or overlaps in our network?
Yes - GMAP’s automotive consultancy focuses on understanding market coverage, identifying gaps or overlaps, and then improving overall automotive network planning.
What tools does GMAP use?
GMAP uses location intelligence software, geospatial analysis capability and IMPACT, a bespoke, client-specific tool designed to test automotive network and location planning decisions.
What data does GMAP use in automotive planning?
Depending on the requested brief, GMAP will use client performance data, automotive market data, consumer and demographic data, competitor locations, catchment analysis and drive-time data.
Do you offer consultancy only, or software as well?
GMAP has a combined offer of consultancy, software and data, so support can be delivered in a range of ways, including as a project, through self-serve tools, or through a hybrid model of both.
What do clients receive at the end of a project?
The final outcome can include mapped analysis, prioritised opportunities, scenario comparisons, decision-ready recommendations and a clearer evidence base for strong automotive location planning.
Can GMAP help with EV charge point site selection?
Yes - the same automotive network planning approach we use for dealer network development can be re-applied to EV charger location strategy and EV charge point site selection.
Can GMAP support one market or multiple countries?
GMAP is based in the UK, but operates internationally, so it is possible for requested support to be adapted to different markets and geographies.
