Four auto retail groups added dealerships to their portfolios in second-quarter transactions.
Here’s a look at the deals involving import and domestic dealerships and stores in New York and Wisconsin.
One transaction involved an auto retailer ranked on Automotive News‘ top 150 dealership groups list.
Matthews Auto buys two Fuccillo dealerships
Matthews Auto Group, of Vestal, N.Y., has acquired two Fuccillo Automotive Group dealerships to enter the Albany market in New York.
Matthews Auto, which in January 2021 bought five New York Fuccillo dealerships, on May 27 purchased Fuccillo Kia of Schenectady and Fuccillo Hyundai of Schenectady. Schenectady is northwest of Albany.
The transaction did not include a Lincoln franchise that had been located at the Hyundai dealership, according to Matthews Auto.
Matthews Auto, a family-owned business since 1973, renamed the stores Matthews Kia of Schenectady and Matthews Hyundai of Schenectady.
Last year, Matthews Auto bought three dealerships in the Syracuse area and two in the Rochester area from Fuccillo, adding two Kia, two Hyundai and a Nissan dealership.
Matthews Auto President Rob Matthews said the employees from those acquisitions have been of high quality. He said in a statement that those acquisitions “were instant contributors to the overall success of Matthews Auto. We have met the teams in Albany, and have every reason to believe that the same extraordinary level of talent that we saw in our previously acquired Fuccillo stores exists here.”
Matthews Auto said it now has 15 stores across New York and Pennsylvania, including five Kia dealerships.
The Fuccillo group, which just a few years ago had more than 20 dealerships, has been selling numerous franchised rooftops. In April, the group and Billy Fuccillo Jr. sold 10 franchised dealerships in New York to Wally Darwish. Two of Fuccillo’s New York General Motors dealerships closed around the time of the Darwish transaction.
And in May, Fuccillo Automotive sold a Kia dealership in Clermont, Fla., to Morgan Automotive Group.
Bob Morris of Tim Lamb Group, a dealership buy-sell firm in Columbus, Ohio, represented the seller in the Matthews-Fuccillo transaction.
West Herr buys Chevrolet store
West Herr Automotive Group, fresh off its May purchase of a Honda store, bought a Chevrolet dealership this month.
On June 1, West Herr, along with Bethanne Hollis Kaiser, the group’s vice president of sales operations, bought O’Connor Chevrolet in Rochester, N.Y., from Mark O’Connor.
The dealership was renamed West Herr Chevrolet of Rochester.
“Everyone at West Herr is excited and looking forward to carrying on the quality sales and service experience that Mark and his team have established through the years,” West Herr CEO Scott Bieler said in a statement. “West Herr has represented Chevrolet since 1989 and we are proud to continue our tradition of representing one of the strongest brands in the industry.”
Hollis Kaiser is dealer principal and partner of West Herr Chevrolet of Rochester, the group noted.
“Beth is currently a minority owner in the dealership with opportunity to eventually purchase controlling interests,” West Herr CFO Stan Kicinski told Automotive News in an email.
While West Herr indicated it has had minority ownership partners in the past, West Herr Chevrolet of Rochester is the only dealership currently with a minority owner.
West Herr said it expects the Chevrolet dealership to sell 2,400 new and used vehicles combined annually. It marks the group’s fifth Chevrolet store and its 34th dealership overall, the auto retailer said.
On May 25, West Herr bought Victory Honda of Ontario in Canandaigua, N.Y., from Victory Automotive Group.
West Herr, of Orchard Park, N.Y., ranks No. 17 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 31,933 new vehicles in 2021.
City Auto Group enters new state
Expanding City Auto Group entered a new state and added a new brand to its portfolio with an April acquisition.
City Auto, run by partners Anthony Scala and Shawn Kohli, bought Schlossmann Dodge City Chrysler-Jeep-Ram-Fiat in Brookfield, Wis., from brothers Mike Schlossmann and Brad Schlossmann on April 11, according to Scala.
The dealership was renamed City Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-Fiat of Brookfield. Brookfield is west of Milwaukee.
“One of my good buddies has a Chrysler store in Chicago, and he raves about the brand,” Scala told Automotive News. “And then obviously doing business in Wisconsin, or Indiana, as we have a store in Indiana, [the] cost of doing business is a fraction of that instead of Illinois. We always wanted to get into that Milwaukee market. We saw this as a great opportunity.”
The Stellantis dealership acquisition follows City Auto’s September purchase of a Chevrolet dealership in suburban Chicago.
The Brookfield dealership is the fifth store for the group. City Auto, based in Chicago, also owns two Volkswagen dealerships in Illinois and one Volkswagen store in northwest Indiana.
Rosen Automotive expands in Wisconsin
Dealer Jeff Rosen of Rosen Automotive Group in Milwaukee has added a new-car dealership — to grow to five, all in Wisconsin — with the purchase of the former Francois Ford in Belleville.
The transaction closed April 4. The dealership was renamed Rosen Ford Belleville. Belleville is south of Madison.
The Francois family founded its original business in 1939 as a gas station, which also sold and serviced Case tractors, selling dealer Rick Francois said in a phone interview.
A new-car franchise for Nash came later. At the time, the Nash Rambler was built in Kenosha, Wis., Francois said. The family dropped Nash in favor of a Ford franchise in 1955, still at the gas station location, he said.
In 2016, the Ford dealership moved to a new facility in Belleville. Francois said that he and his brother, Ed Francois, were 50-50 co-owners. Rick was dealer principal and president, and Ed was vice president, Rick Francois said.
The brothers intend to stay active in their other businesses, including two Byrider buy-here, pay-here stores. But they decided to cut some of their commitments and sell the Ford dealership, he said. Over time, they also sold “all but a couple” out of 17 gas stations and convenience stores they owned, Rick Francois said.
“It isn’t anything to do with the industry or with Ford. We expect great things from Ford. I think it’s the best product lineup they’ve ever had, and I’ve seen a lot over the years,” said Rick Francois. “Our employees deserve young, energetic leadership.”
Across the country, it’s also a seller’s market for dealerships. “It is absolute craziness out there right now,” said Andy Gill of Gill Automotive Group, a sell-side firm in St. Augustine, Fla., who represented the sellers in the transaction.
Gill Automotive also advised Rosen in his March 2021 purchase of the former Hyundai Greenfield dealership in Wisconsin, which Rosen Automotive renamed Rosen Hyundai Greenfield.
Andy Gill said: “When dealerships pop up, unless they’re priced out of the universe, boom, they’re gone.”
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