Paul Napleton and stepson Danny Randolph of Napleton Auto Group acquired five dealerships in three transactions last year to grow their partnership. Paul Napleton is the brother of Edward Napleton, CEO of Napleton Automotive Group, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.
Napleton and Randolph on Aug. 29 acquired Don McCue Chevrolet in St. Charles, Ill., from Tim McCue, Don McCue’s son, Randolph told Automotive News. That dealership was renamed Napleton Chevrolet St. Charles. St. Charles is west of Chicago.
“We love the Chevrolet brand, we absolutely love the market out here in St. Charles,” Randolph said. “The store just has a ton of opportunity and untapped potential.”
Paul Napleton and Randolph, in the fourth quarter, went north to Wisconsin to expand their presence in the Badger state, buying Countryside Ford in Columbus and Countryside Chevrolet-Buick-GMC in Beaver Dam, from Keith Ghanian and Ted Naegeli. The transaction closed on Nov. 14, Randolph said.
Both Wisconsin cities are northeast of Madison.
Those dealerships were renamed Napleton Columbus Ford and Napleton Chevrolet-Buick-GMC Beaver Dam.
The duo has owned a Chevrolet-Buick dealership in Columbus, Wis., since 2016, Randolph said.
He said he and Paul Napleton were attracted by the stores being just 20 minutes of each other.
“The stores were very well run and the sellers were just ready to get out,” Randolph said.
And on Dec. 1, Randolph and Paul Napleton bought Rogers Auto Group, with Chevrolet-Buick-GMC and Hyundai-Genesis dealerships in Chicago, from Monty Scher.
Those dealerships now operate as part of Napleton Downtown Chicago and were renamed Napleton Downtown Chevrolet-Buick-
GMC and Napleton Downtown Hyundai-Genesis of Downtown Chicago.
Randolph said that acquisition was attractive, “with a variety of different brands” and they liked that the stores were profitable, “with high volume and a lot of opportunity.”
The duo has tentative plans to build a new Hyundai dealership and possibly a standalone store for Genesis, Randolph said.
Randolph, who said he is a partner in one other dealership with Paul Napleton in Illinois, said Napleton Auto includes dealerships in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri.
Napleton Auto of Rosemont, Ill., ranks No. 126 on Automotive News‘ most recent list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 8,000 new vehicles in 2021.