By: John Miller, Director of Business Development  • Published: September 23, 2026 • Updated: September 23, 2026 • Read Time: 8 min 

TL;DR Fifth Gear Automotive Repair ranked No. 3,384 on the 2026 Inc. 5000 and No. 16 among automotive companies, with 85% revenue growth from 2022 to 2025, reached as an independent family-owned business running 10 locations across North Texas.

The ranking measures revenue. Fifth Gear’s founders have always credited the people in the bays, which in this industry is a harder claim than it sounds.

What is the Inc. 5000, and where did Fifth Gear Automotive Repair rank?

Fifth Gear Automotive Repair placed No. 3,384 on the 2026 Inc. 5000 with a three-year revenue growth rate of 85%. Within the list it ranked No. 16 among automotive companies, No. 360 in Texas and No. 156 among Dallas-area companies. Fifth Gear is a family-owned auto repair business founded in Lewisville, Texas in 2004, specializing in European and luxury vehicles and servicing all makes and models.

The Inc. 5000 is Inc. magazine’s annual ranking of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States, ranked on one thing: percentage revenue growth over a three-year period. For the 2026 list, that period runs from 2022 to 2025. The honorees generated a cumulative $385 billion in revenue in 2025, according to Inc.

The eligibility rules are narrow. A company must be privately held, for-profit, U.S.-based and independent, meaning not a subsidiary or division of another company, and it must have posted at least $100,000 in revenue in 2022 and $2 million in 2025. Franchisees are out. That filter matters in auto repair, where a large share of the ten-location operators in any given metro are franchise units or portfolio companies.

Field Detail
Overall rank No. 3,384 (2026 Inc. 5000)
Industry rank No. 16, Automotive
State rank No. 360, Texas
Metro rank No. 156, Dallas
Three-year growth 85%
Industry Automotive
Year founded 2004
Headquarters Lewisville, Texas
Company size 51-200 employees
Leadership Ricky Jordan

Fifth Gear Automotive Repair operates 10 locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: Allen, Argyle, Aubrey-Cross Roads, Autosports (Lewisville), Castle Hills, Frisco, Lewisville, McKinney, North Fort Worth and Southlake.

Why 85% growth is unusual in independent auto repair

Auto repair is one of the most fragmented industries in the country, and the way most shops now reach ten locations is by being bought.

Independent operators still hold roughly 70% of the repair market and the top 50 companies account for less than 10% of total revenue, according to CT Acquisitions’ 2026 analysis of auto repair consolidation. That fragmentation is why capital has poured in. The same analysis counts more than $5 billion in disclosed equity deployed into repair platforms since 2021, and the largest consolidators now run several hundred to several thousand locations apiece under one parent company.

There is nothing wrong with that model, and it produces a specific kind of growth: a platform adds locations by writing a check for a shop that already exists, with a team already in place and a customer list already built. The growth shows up on a closing statement.

Fifth Gear grew the other way. Every location on that list of ten was opened, staffed and filled with customers who had a reason to drive past three other shops to get there. Fifth Gear is still owned by the two men who started it in 2004, with no institutional sponsor and no parent company.

Technician supply is what caps growth in auto repair

There is no shortage of cars in need of repair in North Texas. There is a severe shortage of people qualified to fix them, and that is what limits how fast a repair shop can grow.

According to TechForce Foundation’s 2026 Supply, Demand & Opportunity report, the automotive sector employs about 805,600 technicians and needs to fill roughly 70,000 openings a year. Postsecondary programs graduate about 42,000 people into that gap annually.

Meanwhile the work is getting harder. The average vehicle on American roads is now 12.8 years old, per the same report, so shops are diagnosing aging electronics and deferred maintenance rather than servicing late-model cars under warranty. A modern European sedan running a 48-volt system and three networked control modules is not a car you hand to a new hire.

The growth math for any repair business follows from those two facts. You cannot open a bay you cannot staff. You cannot staff one with a technician you have not trained and kept.

How Fifth Gear Automotive Repair’s founders explain the growth

Fifth Gear Automotive Repair credits its people. Every growing company says that, so it is worth being specific about what Fifth Gear Automotive Repair actually says and what it has built.

The stated purpose, in the company’s own words, is to “invest in people so we can deliver dealership-quality auto repair.” The founders describe Fifth Gear Automotive Repair as a career home rather than a workplace, and they make the claim plainly on the About page: many team members have grown from entry-level roles into leadership positions.

There is structure behind the language. Fifth Gear Automotive Repair runs an in-house training academy with a dedicated trainer and a separate talent acquisition lead handles hiring. Every technician is ASE-certified and trained on an ongoing basis. Today, the shops are led by General Manager Tim Edwards in Lewisville, who also oversees the Castle Hills satellite center; General Manager Matt Higgs in McKinney, who also oversees the Frisco and Allen satellite centers; General Manager Jamie Stewart in Aubrey-Crossroads; Service Manager Cory Littlehales in Argyle; Service Manager Jake Morris in North Fort Worth, who also oversees the Southlake satellite center. 

The Automotive Training Institute has recognized Fifth Gear Automotive Repair shops with Top Shop honors, an award that measures operational discipline rather than revenue.

Fifth Gear Automotive Repair has earned multiple national honors from the Automotive Training Institute (ATI), including the 2024 National Shop of the Year award for its McKinney location and the 2022 National Shop of the Year award for its Argyle location. The company was also recognized as an ATI National Top MSO Shop in 2024.

Whether that model is what produced 85% growth is a claim only the founders can make. 

“Our growth has tracked pretty closely with how much we put into our people. General Manager Tim Edwards, for example, started with us as a technician and now runs our Lewisville location, and most of our leaders came up the same way. That path is why people stay, and ultimately why our customers keep coming back.” – Ricky Jordan, Co-Owner, Founder and President

Internal Career Growth: All of our shop managers, service managers, and shop foremen have advanced internally, beginning their careers as service advisors or technicians before moving into leadership roles.

Employee Retention: Our average team member tenure is 4 years.

ASE Certifications: Every location has ASE Certified technicians

Fifth Gear Academy: Our in-house academy provides professional development and continuing education to support our team members career growth. 

From a soccer field sideline to 10 North Texas locations

Fifth Gear Automotive Repair started in 2004 as a conversation between two dads on the sideline of a North Texas soccer field. Ricky Jordan and Bill Bernick found they shared a fixation on cars, craftsmanship and the idea of building something of their own. What followed was a small Texaco station and a handful of loyal Porsche clients who trusted them with cars most shops would not touch.

That Porsche work built the reputation, and the reputation is why plenty of people in the Metroplex still describe Fifth Gear Automotive Repair as a European shop. The description is accurate as far as it goes. European and luxury service remains the specialty. But the majority of the vehicles that come through the bays are not European. They are Fords, Toyotas, Hondas and trucks, plus a growing number of hybrids and EVs. The diagnostic discipline a 911 demands is the same discipline a 150,000-mile F-150 gets.

The founders built the company on four stated values: passion, trust, respect and family. Twenty-two years later, both are still owners. That continuity is unusual in a market where most multi-shop operators have taken outside capital.

“ When Rick and I opened the doors at that old Texaco station we had about 30 Porsche customers and a $5,000 lease that kept me up at night. Rick took care of the cars and I took care of business, and we both know we’d only make it if every one of those customers could trust us completely. We’ve grown a lot since then, but that part never changed. We still treat every car like it belongs to a friend or family, because a lot of them do.” – Bill Bernick – Co-founder of Fifth Gear Automotive Repair 

What the growth changed for customers, and what it didn’t

Growing from one shop to 10 changed five things for Fifth Gear Automotive Repair customers across North Texas.

Proximity. Fifth Gear Automotive Repair serves Lewisville, Flower Mound, Highland Village, Carrollton, Denton, Argyle, Frisco, Plano, Allen, McKinney, Southlake, Keller, North Fort Worth and Dallas. For most of the Metroplex, a Fifth Gear Automotive Repair shop is a short drive rather than a cross-county trip.

A warranty that travels. Every repair carries a 3-year/36,000-mile nationwide warranty. A repair done in McKinney is covered when the car is in Denver.

Inspections you can see. Digital vehicle inspections send photographs of the vehicle on the lift, with recommendations sorted red, yellow and green and online approval so customers authorize only what they choose to. Nobody has to take a service advisor’s word for a worn bushing they cannot see.

Convenience built around a workday. Shuttle service, loaner vehicles, towing and free pickup and delivery, plus financing through Synchrony Car Care including six-month 0% promotional financing for qualified applicants, subject to credit approval.

Clean, climate-controlled shops. Professionally equipped facilities with factory-level diagnostic tooling.

What did not change is the part the founders care most about. Fifth Gear Automotive Repair still sponsors the Lewisville ISD Education Foundation Golf Classic, now five years running, along with Battle of the Badges for local first responders, Casting for a Cause, the Lewisville Police Department Car Show and two area high school bands. Fifth Gear Automotive Repair calls this its Good Neighbor Commitment, and the sponsorship list has grown alongside the shop count.

The promise on the door has not moved either: concierge-level, dealer-quality service at independent prices.

If you have been putting off a repair, or you have a check engine light your last shop could not explain, find your nearest Fifth Gear Automotive Repair location and talk to a service advisor. Ten shops, one standard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fifth Gear Automotive Repair ranked No. 3,384 overall on the 2026 Inc. 5000 with 85% three-year revenue growth, plus No. 16 among automotive companies, No. 360 in Texas and No. 156 among Dallas-area companies. Inc. lists Fifth Gear as an automotive business founded in 2004, headquartered in Lewisville, Texas, with 51 to 200 employees.

Fifth Gear Automotive Repair operates 10 locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: Allen, Argyle, Aubrey-Cross Roads, Autosports (Lewisville), Castle Hills, Frisco, Lewisville, McKinney, North Fort Worth and Southlake. All locations are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

No. European and luxury vehicles are the specialty, including Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Porsche and Volkswagen, but Fifth Gear Automotive Repair services all makes and models, including domestic vehicles, imports, hybrids and EVs. The majority of vehicles serviced are not European.

Every repair is backed by a 3-year/36,000-mile nationwide warranty, honored outside of North Texas as well as at any of the 10 Fifth Gear Automotive Repair locations.

No. Fifth Gear Automotive Repair is independently and family-owned by co-founders Ricky Jordan and Bill Bernick, who started the business in 2004. Independence from parent companies and franchise ownership is one of the eligibility requirements for the Inc. 5000.

Methodology

Ranking data, growth rate and company details are taken directly from Fifth Gear Automotive Repair’s 2026 Inc. 5000 company profile and Inc.’s published ranking methodology, retrieved August 28, 2026. Industry context on market fragmentation and consolidation, plus workforce figures on technician supply and demand, are drawn from the named third-party sources listed below and attributed inline. Company history, locations, services, warranty terms and community sponsorships are from Fifth Gear Automotive Repair’s own records. No revenue figures are disclosed in this post. Inc. does not publish revenue for Fifth Gear Automotive Repair, and the company does not release it.

Sources & Further Reading

 

Last updated: September 23, 2026

John Miller is the Director of Business Development at Fifth Gear Automotive.
Fifth Gear Automotive Repair provides automotive service and repair. We service all makes and models – both domestic and import. We specialize in European auto repair for BMW, VW, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and most other popular European marques.

Fifth Gear Automotive has 10 locations – Allen, Argyle, Aubrey-Crossroads, Castle Hills, Frisco, Lewisville, McKinney, North Fort Worth, and Southlake, Texas.