Our History

We embrace the past to grasp the future.

In 1945, a group of successful Ford dealerships formed the Dealers Analysis Bureau, holding meetings to discuss dealer operations and share best practices. This group, which evolved to become the original automotive 20 Group, hired Kansas City management company Central Services to provide key management information on a monthly basis.

By 1947, other automotive dealers noticed the success of the automotive 20 Group concept and began to inquire about applying it to their operations. Led by C. V. Nichols, Maynard Campbell and Bob Morrow, Central Services expanded its offering to the rest of the industry and the firm eventually became Nichols, Campbell and Morrow—the predecessor of today’s NCM^® Associates.  In 1988, the principals of Nichols, Campbell and Morrow transferred ownership of the company to its dedicated employees. 

The dedicated employee-owners of NCM are driven to help our clients succeed.

Today, NCM Associates remains a 100% employee-owned company, as evidenced by our dedication and commitment to serving our clients. Since our earliest days, we’ve never stopped enhancing our process with innovative analytical tools, training programs and business-building resources that help our clients get more value from their 20 Group participation. 

NCM Associates and its staff of experienced professionals provide our flagship 20 Group service, as well as Benchmark tools, educational programs and consulting solutions to clients all over North America. We are proud to serve thousands of new and pre-owned automotive dealers, as well as businesses in more than 20 other industries.