I think that Mercedes is aware of this, and implemented a long term strategy of acquiring dealerships from their owners a few years ago. "Through the grapevine

I think that Mercedes is aware of this, and implemented a long term strategy of acquiring dealerships from their owners a few years ago. "Through the grapevine": they have mandated costly architectural redesigns, and they have had a right of first refusal for at least some dealership owners who wanted to exit the market and sell their dealership to people other than Mercedes Benz itself. They may also have mandated in increase in maintenance service-related revenues to further tighten the screws on dealership owners.