In the late 1990s, when online car shopping was just getting started, many dealers feared the Internet would cut them out of the action as middlemen and make them an endangered species.
 

Today, just about everyone agrees dealers are not going away, regardless of how their operations may transform.
 

“Over the next decade, the average American franchised new-car dealership will see many changes to how the store is set up and run,” says researcher Glenn Mercer.