LaFontaine Automotive buys first Infiniti dealership
LaFontaine Automotive Group has expanded its luxurious model choices with its newest Michigan acquisition.
LaFontaine Automotive on Aug. 11 purchased Ann Arbor Infiniti, west of Detroit, from fellow Michigan auto retailer Fox Motors, LaFontaine spokesperson Max Muncey confirmed to Automotive News in an e-mail.
The dealership was renamed LaFontaine Infiniti Ann Arbor. It marks the primary Infiniti dealership for LaFontaine, Muncey mentioned. Infiniti joins Cadillac, Volvo and Genesis in LaFontaine’s luxurious model portfolio.
Fox Motors housed the Infiniti franchise out of its Nissan dealership in Ann Arbor. Muncey mentioned LaFontaine moved Infiniti to a former used-vehicle retailer it already owned in Ann Arbor.
The acquisition was LaFontaine’s first because it purchased a metro Detroit Chevrolet dealership in March, Muncey mentioned. In addition, LaFontaine this yr opened a standalone Polestar retailer, additionally in metro Detroit, and purchased a Lincoln dealership in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Fox Motors, in the meantime, has been an lively dealership purchaser in 2023 with purchases in Grand Rapids and metro Detroit.
LaFontaine Automotive, of Highland, Mich., ranks No. 25 on Automotive News‘ checklist of the highest 150 dealership teams primarily based within the U.S., retailing 24,750 new automobiles in 2022. Fox Motors, of Grand Rapids, ranks No. 54 on that very same checklist, with gross sales of 14,457 new automobiles in 2022.
Kunes Auto buys two Wisconsin dealerships
Kunes Auto Group gained two footholds in metro Milwaukee after buying General Motors dealerships in Wisconsin.
Kunes Auto COO Scott Kunes mentioned the group on May 31 bought All-Star Buick-GMC in Oak Creek, Wis., from Boyland Auto Group.
“We are very excited for that deal,” Kunes informed Automotive News. “We’ve always been in the southeast Milwaukee market, but this was our first foray into the metro Milwaukee market.”
Renamed Kunes Buick-GMC of Oak Creek, the shop is south of downtown Milwaukee.
Boyland Auto CEO Dorian Boyland, a former Major League Baseball participant drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, additionally bought a Honda dealership in Oak Creek in January.
“The decision to sell my two Milwaukee stores and leave the state that was the birthplace of my academic and professional sports careers, was a very difficult one,” Boyland mentioned in a press release.
Scott Mackie, senior vice chairman of the Midwest area for buy-sell agency National Business Brokers in Irvine, Calif., represented Boyland within the Kunes transaction.
Kunes Auto of Delavan, Wis., on Aug. 1 additionally bought John Paul’s Buick-GMC in Greenfield, southwest of Milwaukee. The Jones household bought the shop, renamed Kunes Buick-GMC of Greenfield.
The acquisitions have been the primary auto dealership transactions of the yr for Kunes Auto, which additionally owns RV dealerships, Kunes mentioned. A wholesale elements operation on the Greenfield location made the deal extra engaging, Kunes mentioned.
“They do roughly $2 million [in sales] in wholesale parts a month and that’s a business we have not been in,” Kunes mentioned. “We’ve done wholesale parts at all of our stores, but not to the extent they do.”
Kunes mentioned he hopes each shops enable the group to extend its dedication to group visibility.
“We tend to be in more rural or medium-sized communities,” Kunes mentioned. “We’re hoping to bring our large community presence to the metro Milwaukee market as well.”
Kunes Auto ranks No. 96 on Automotive News’ checklist of the highest 150 dealership teams primarily based within the U.S., retailing 9,233 new automobiles in 2022.
Source: www.autonews.com