The Feldman Automotive Group has acquired the Jorgensen Ford Sales Inc. dealership in Detroit in a partnership that Feldman says makes it the only minority-owned dealership in the city.
Feldman, based in New Hudson, Mich., partnered with Eddie Hall III and Cliff Cicotte on Thursday to buy the store from Merlton Brandenburg, who took over ownership of the dealership in 2004. The dealership will now be known as Feldman Ford of Detroit.
The trio declined to disclose the breakdown of the partnership ownership structure, a Feldman spokeswoman said. Terms of the deal also were not disclosed.
The dealership was renamed Feldman Ford of Detroit.
It is the first Ford for Feldman, which has grown to 17 locations in Michigan and Ohio.
Hall is CFO and general manager of Hall Automotive Group, including Briarwood Ford in Saline, Mich., Royal Oak Ford, Vicksburg Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Northland Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Oak Park. Hall also was a 2019 Automotive News 40 Under 40 awardee. Cicotte owns Spirit Ford in Dundee, Mich., and is a board member of the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association.
“I’m looking forward to working with (Hall) and (Cicotte) on this new store,” Jay Feldman, CEO of the Feldman Automotive Group, said in a statement. “Our dealership mix will be enhanced with the Ford offering as we expand the Feldman Automotive Group in Michigan and Ohio. Our current and future customers will continue to have more and more choices when considering their next purchase.”
Jorgensen Ford has a staff of 41, which brings the total number of Feldman employees to 1,250.
The Jorgensen acquisition is the second this year for Feldman, which in partnership with actor Mark Wahlberg acquired Joe Firment Chevrolet [now Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet of Avon] in Avon, Ohio, in July. In December, Feldman Automotive it acquired Al Deeby Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Clarkston, Mich., from the Al Deeby family. The store was renamed Feldman Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Clarkston.
The Feldman group is building a standalone Jeep dealership across from its newly acquired Clarkston location.
Feldman is expecting a big year. The group projects it will sell more than 40,000 vehicles at its 17 locations, with projected revenues of more than $1.5 billion.
Feldman ranks No. 49 on Automotive News’ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 18,246 new vehicles in 2020.
Melissa Burden of Automotive News contributed to this report.