Our industry has no shortage of uncertainty today. Trade policy, tariffs, regulation, interest rates, technology, global competition and AI are all shaping the environment around us. Dealers are also dealing with pricing pressure, more competitors, parts availability and an increasingly important question when evaluating another vehicle brand: Who is going to be here five years from now? Those are real concerns. But despite the noise, I remain very optimistic about where this industry can go.
Three Markets, Three Different Trajectories
One reason is that we are not really serving one market. We are serving three. Fleet golf remains a foundation, and I expect that market to stay relatively flat. But its importance goes well beyond new fleet sales. Nearly every replacement cycle creates used vehicles that can be rebuilt, refurbished and repurposed for consumer and commercial applications.
Commercial utility and transportation should continue to grow as campuses, resorts, municipalities, healthcare facilities, property managers and industrial users find more applications for small vehicles.
Then there is consumer Local Mobility, including LSVs and golf cars or PTVs where permitted. That is where I see the strongest growth opportunity over the next five years.
More Miles. More Market
The consumer opportunity is not simply about selling more vehicles. It is about making those vehicles more useful. The more places customers can responsibly operate them, the more valuable they become. More utility creates more demand. More demand creates a larger market. That is why I keep coming back to a simple mantra: More Miles = More Market = More Sales!
Public policy matters because access increasingly helps determine the size of a dealer’s addressable market. A community can open additional roads or establish responsible golf car access without adding a single household. Yet the usefulness of every vehicle in that community increases. The reverse is also true. An incident can become a headline, the headline can create public concern, and government can react with restrictions. When that happens, miles disappear and the market gets smaller.
Safety Protects Growing Access
That is why safety should be viewed as more than compliance. It is a market-growth strategy. Professional dealers sit at an important point in that equation. Was it the right vehicle for the application? Was it properly configured and inspected? Does the customer understand where and how it should be used? Responsible products, responsible dealers and educated customers lead to better outcomes. Better outcomes build community confidence, and confidence helps preserve access.
Choose the Company, Not Just the Vehicle
Dealer decisions about manufacturers will also become more important. A few years ago, availability often drove the decision. If you could get product, you could probably sell it. Today, dealers need to look much deeper. Product and price still matter, but so do financial stability, compliance, supply chain, parts availability, warranty support, technical resources and dealer strategy.
Every vehicle placed on your showroom floor also puts your dealership’s and your personal reputation behind the manufacturer. If parts do not arrive, that is your customer at the counter. If the warranty is not handled, that is your phone ringing. If the manufacturer disappears, that may be your Google review.
Dealers Can Shape What Comes Next
The world will continue to set many of the conditions around us, and dealers cannot control tariffs, interest rates or geopolitics. But dealers can control what they sell, who they partner with, how they deliver the vehicle and how well they understand their communities. They can also learn from one another instead of repeatedly solving the same problems independently.
That matters because the next five years could be some of the best this industry has experienced. Not growth at any cost, but growth built around better products, stronger partners, professional dealers, responsible use and communities that increasingly see these vehicles as a practical part of everyday transportation.
More useful. In more places. For more people.
That is how we create more miles. And more miles create more market.
About the Author
Mike Alexander is the Executive Director of the Low-Speed Vehicle Dealer Association (LSVDA) and Founder of Sea Anchor Group. A veteran executive in the LSV and Light Duty Utility Vehicle industries, he advises OEMs, suppliers, dealers, and private equity-backed companies on growth strategies, market development, operational leadership, and industry modernization.
