Part of the agreement required Foundation to move the Hyundai store to a different building, a former AutoNation dealership, about two miles away in Westminster, Colo. AutoNation Hyundai 104 closed on Wednesday and Foundation is moving inventory, parts and tools to the Westminster location.
Other terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the store has been renamed Foundation Hyundai.
Foundation will rent the building from AutoNation but is looking for land to build an image-compliant facility, Kutschinski said.
"They've been really great at the leasehold improvements in getting it ready to move in this week," Kutschinski said of AutoNation. "We open up for business on Monday, [May 24]."
The previous Hyundai dealership is being turned into an AutoNation USA location, Kutschinski said. In April, AutoNation said it plans to expand its used-vehicle-only AutoNation USA business to more than 130 stores by the end of 2026.
Foundation, which now has a U.S. office in Houston, formed in 2017. It acquired its first U.S. dealerships in 2019. Kutschinski said Foundation uses a partnership model in which the group owns up to 75 percent of a dealership while an operating partner owns up to 25 percent.
Josh Letis, managing partner of the group's Medved Autoplex — which includes Cadillac, Chevrolet and Kia stores in nearby Wheat Ridge, Colo. — will also be managing partner at the Hyundai store.
The Hyundai dealership is Foundation's 20th store overall. Foundation acquired a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store in North Vancouver, British Columbia, in September and in December opened a new Mitsubishi point in Houston.
The group has three dealerships in Canada and 17 in the U.S. across Colorado, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas. It also owns a commercial truck upfitting center in Texas.
Foundation, led by CEO Kevin Kutschinski, Cole's father, is aiming for aggressive growth in 2021. The group plans this year to acquire between 16 to 18 additional dealerships, which would nearly double its store count.