Other potential acquisitions are in play. In April, Lithia had dealerships below contract value $1.9 billion in annual income.
Tom Dobry, vp of promoting for Lithia, stated he could not touch upon what number of dealerships Lithia now has below contract to purchase, nor how a lot in annual income they might generate.
He additionally declined to touch upon the gross sales quantity of the newly acquired shops.
But it appeared within the first quarter that Lithia might have pulled forward of AutoNation within the variety of new autos bought.
AutoNation stated it bought 56,442 new autos within the U.S. within the first quarter, whereas Lithia reported new-vehicle gross sales of 64,942, together with a small however undisclosed quantity bought in Canada.
Lithia, which purchased its first shops in Florida in 2019, final week purchased seven Lehman Auto World dealerships in southern Florida from Bill Lehman Jr.: Largo Honda in Florida City; Doral Hyundai-Genesis, Doral Kia and Lehman Mitsubishi in Miami; and Lehman Buick-GMC, Lehman Hyundai-Genesis and Lehman Subaru in Miami Gardens.
Bill Lehman Jr., the dealerships’ principal proprietor, stated in a press release that he had a “great run. I’m 81 and I think it’s time.
“From a company perspective, there may be continued consolidation within the automotive retail area, so when Lithia expressed curiosity in beginning preliminary conversations with us, I felt that this was not solely the precise time however the precise firm.”
Dobry said the Lehman dealerships are “extremely regarded” and “give us an on the spot benefit out there.”
He also said the Lehman store names will remain, except that Lehman Subaru will be renamed.
Lithia additionally acquired Esserman International Acura and Volkswagen dealerships in Doral, Fla., from the Esserman family, said Alan Haig, president of buy-sell firm Haig Partners in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Haig represented Lehman in the sale of his dealerships and also was involved in the Lithia-Esserman transaction.
The Florida acquisitions are expected to add $850 million in annual revenue, Lithia said.
The auto retail giant also last week bought Henderson Hyundai Superstore/Genesis of Henderson near Las Vegas from Frank Maione, according to DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company that handled that transaction. Dave Cantin and George Pero were the brokers.
That Hyundai-Genesis store is expected to add $100 million in annual revenue and builds on Lithia’s expansion in the Las Vegas market, which it entered last year.
Maione said he had owned his Hyundai dealership for 21 years. He said Lithia made him an offer “I could not refuse,” and he chose to sell his only dealership.
Maione said his Hyundai store at peak sold 300 new vehicles a month.
“I’m going to overlook this retailer, and largely I’m going to overlook my workers,” he told Automotive News.
In separate acquisitions this year, Lithia also bought three California dealerships in January and three Las Vegas dealerships in March. In Canada, Lithia bought a Honda dealership near Toronto in May. The retailer also has sold some dealerships this year.
Lithia, of Medford, Ore., ranks No. 2 on Automotive News‘ record of the highest 150 dealership teams based mostly within the U.S., retailing 260,738 new autos in 2021.
Source: www.autonews.com
