Four U.S. dealership groups have expanded their regional footprints with acquisitions that were finalized in recent weeks.
Here’s a quick look at the transactions involving domestic- and import-brand stores. One deal involved one of Automotive News‘ top 150 dealership groups.
Phil Long Dealerships, of Colorado Springs, Colo., acquired a Subaru store on Tuesday, marking a return to the brand. It bought Glenwood Springs Subaru, west of Denver, from former National Automobile Dealers Association Chairman Jeff Carlson, Steve Nilsson and Carroll Winkler. Winkler will remain as the store’s general manager.
The dealership is now Phil Long group’s second store in Glenwood Springs, where it has a Honda dealership. Phil Long also has Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Genesis, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Toyota dealerships. It ranks No. 100 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 9,068 new vehicles in 2020.
Great Lakes Auto Network, of Akron, Ohio, acquired its first dealership in the western part of Ohio on Tuesday when it bought LaRiche Toyota-Subaru in Findlay from Bob LaRiche. The single rooftop has been renamed Great Lakes Toyota-Subaru. Both are new brands for the group.
“Where do you find two tier-one import franchises combined together under one rooftop? It’s a very exciting opportunity,” Joey Huang, president of Great Lakes Auto Network, told Automotive News. Neither party used a broker, Huang said. Great Lakes also has two Honda dealerships, a Hyundai dealership and a Kia store in its portfolio. In February, Great Lakes sold three dealerships in northeast Ohio to Montrose Auto Group: a Chevrolet store in Jefferson, a Buick-GMC store in Ashtabula and a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store in Kingsville, Huang said. In January 2020, Great Lakes bought a Honda store in Elyria, Ohio.
Pedder Auto Group, of Hemet, Calif., on May 28 purchased Poway Hyundai and Poway Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram north of San Diego from longtime dealer Mark Abelkop, who was selling his last two stores. The dealerships have been renamed Pedder Hyundai of Poway and Pedder Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Poway.
David Pedder started the auto group in August 2008 and now has seven stores, including three Nissan and two other Stellantis dealerships. Pedder told Automotive News that he has been looking to add more dealerships and create jobs in California and wanted to add stores closer to his home in San Diego. Performance Brokerage Services brokered the transaction.
Checkered Flag Auto Group bought Pomoco Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Newport News and Pomoco Alfa Romeo-Fiat of Newport News, both in Virginia, on May 3 from Pomoco Auto Group. The dealerships have been renamed Checkered Flag Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Checkered Flag Alfa Romeo-Fiat.
The Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store represents the first domestic franchises for the group, said Steve Snyder, Checkered Flag’s president. Checkered Flag, of Virginia Beach, Va., now has 11 rooftops throughout southeastern Virginia. Its portfolio features Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Genesis, Volkswagen, Jaguar-Land Rover, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Mini.
“We feel like we have a number of people that were ready to take on a bigger role, and we didn’t have those opportunities within our core group,” Snyder said. “We expanded in order to help people realize opportunities.”
Neither party used a broker, Snyder said.