Brandon Steven Motors punctuated a bustling three-month dealership growth period with its Nov. 16 purchase of WIN Hyundai Carson in California from Jerry Heuer and Hani Nassif.
Company President Brandon Steven told Automotive News that the deal marked the Wichita, Kan., dealership group's fourth addition since late August. Also added were a Honda store, Jaguar-Land Rover dealership and an open-point Hyundai dealership, all in California.
Brandon Steven renamed the WIN store Hyundai Carson. Carson is south of Los Angeles.
Heuer and Nassif have sold their final two dealerships, according to Jesse Stopnitzky, a partner with Performance Brokerage Services Inc., a buy-sell firm in Irvine, Calif. Performance Brokerage co-founder Jason Stopnitzky brokered that transaction.
Heuer and Nassif also on Nov. 16 sold WIN Chevrolet in Carson to Bob Nouri and Pete Shaver of the newly formed Nouri/Shaver Automotive Group. Jason Stopnitzky brokered the transaction. Nassif plans to retire, but Heuer plans to stay in the business, Jesse Stopnitzky said.
Brandon Steven Motors on Oct. 3 also purchased Hamer Honda from Ken Garff Automotive Group. That store was renamed Honda of Reseda, located in the city northwest of Los Angeles.
Brandon Steven Motors ranks No. 123 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 8,195 new vehicles in 2021. Ken Garff Automotive of Salt Lake City ranks No. 9 on that list, retailing 58,787 new vehicles in 2021.
Ken Garff in June bought a Subaru store in Salt Lake City and the group also exited Michigan in July when it sold three dealerships.
Also this summer, the Brandon Steven group on Aug. 23 purchased Jaguar-Land Rover Ventura from Sterling Motors of Newport Beach, Calif.
Phil Vass was the managing partner of that store and is staying on in the same role, according to Mike Sims, president of Pinnacle Mergers & Acquisitions. The Frisco, Texas, buy-sell firm represented the seller in that transaction.
Steven said he's excited for more California expansion. In 2020, Steven bought Honda of Downtown Los Angeles on a handshake deal for $80 million and his group bought two dealerships in fall 2021. Steven's new open-point, Hyundai of Downtown Los Angeles, was awarded in October and has since begun operating in a temporary facility, Steven said.
Eventually, the store will relocate within a block of the Honda store in a new building, Steven said.
With the Hyundai dealership, Steven has called his shot, referencing a former well-known New York Yankees slugger. "I'm just gonna go ahead and Babe Ruth you on this one," Steven said, referencing the home run smashed during the 1932 World Series. Ruth famously pointed two fingers to center field before sending the ball there.
Steven hopes his Hyundai store will become No. 1 in sales in the country.
"It's gonna be a monster, monster facility," Steven said. "It's gonna be a six-story building."
Steven now has seven new-car dealerships in California, while the remainder of the portfolio is in Kansas.
