Fox Motors of Grand Rapids, Mich., said it acquired three Ken Garff Automotive Group dealerships in the Detroit area on Monday, continuing the company’s move into the southeast Michigan market that began in December.
The deal between two of the country’s largest dealership groups includes one Cadillac and two Stellantis dealerships and marks Ken Garff Automotive’s apparent exit from Michigan. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Stellantis dealerships, formerly Southfield Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Telegraph Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Taylor, Mich., will now operate as Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Southfield and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Taylor, respectively.
Cadillac of Novi will continue to operate under the same name. It marks a new luxury brand for Fox Motors.
Ken Garff Automotive of Salt Lake City ranks No. 9 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 58,787 new vehicles in 2021. Fox Motors ranked No. 76 on that list, retailing 13,244 new vehicles last year.
Fox Motors now will have five dealerships in suburban Detroit, following its acquisition of Erhard BMW of Farmington Hills and Jaguar-Land Rover Farmington Hills from the Dahm family in December.
“The plan was to grow in metro Detroit after we entered last December, we just didn’t know how quickly it would happen,” Daniel DeVos, CEO of Fox Motors, said in statement. “The three new locations are a natural fit, given the location of our current Fox Motors dealerships.”
Fox Motors has more than 30 dealership locations in Michigan and Illinois.
Jaguar-Land Rover Farmington Hills is slated to relocate in the fall to a new facility across the street from Cadillac of Novi, which Fox Motors says will create a “luxury destination” for that area.
As for Ken Garff Automotive, the three dealerships were the only stores it owned in Michigan, according to its website. The group added nine dealerships last year.
“We’re grateful that we were able to operate in Detroit for the last eight years,” Brett Hopkins, CEO of Ken Garff Automotive, said in a statement. “These are great dealerships that serve their communities well and we’re confident Fox Motors will continue to operate them in the best way possible.”
Stephens Inc. was financial adviser to Ken Garff Automotive in the transaction.