Hyundai, Stellantis, Infiniti, Lincoln, Ford and Chevy dealerships sell in 5 states

A growing auto retailer expanded again, a Canadian group added a Texas store, a dealer bought stores in two states and two dealerships traded hands from one family-owned group to another in fourth-quarter 2022 and first-quarter 2023 transactions.Here's a look at the deals involving import, domestic and luxury dealerships in Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Iowa and Oregon. One transaction involved a retailer ranked on Automotive News'  top 150 dealership groups list.

Safford Brown adds Hyundai store

Safford Brown Automotive Group in December — one month after closing what was likely the industry's largest acquisition in 2022 as tracked by Automotive News and counted by the number of franchised stores trading hands — purchased a Hyundai dealership in Virginia.

Safford Brown Automotive bought Fairfax Hyundai on Dec. 12 from Sam Mansouri, according to John Hyland, a managing director of DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, who brokered the transaction. The store was renamed Safford Brown Hyundai Fairfax.

Mansouri on March 4 sold Fairfax Kia, also in Virginia, to Ourisman Automotive Group. After divesting both of his dealerships, Mansouri plans to pursue other nonspecified opportunities, but could possibly return to auto retailing, according to Hyland.

Safford Automotive on Nov. 7 acquired 16 stores, including 14 franchised dealerships, in Maryland and Virginia, from Brown Automotive.

The Brown Automotive executive team joined the Safford Automotive team and the group was renamed Safford Brown Automotive.

Safford Automotive on Aug. 1 sold three dealerships representing Ford and Kia as well as Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram brands to Pohanka Automotive Group.

Safford Automotive ranks No. 104 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 9,847 new vehicles in 2021. Brown Automotive retailed 11,770 new vehicles in 2021, according to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, which represented Brown Automotive in the November deal.

Together, new-vehicle sales of Brown and Safford combined would have ranked the entity in the top 50 on Automotive News' list.

Foundation grows in Texas

Growing Canadian auto retailer Foundation Automotive Corp., fresh off a December acquisition in Tennessee, has expanded again, this month in Texas.

Foundation Automotive on Feb. 8 purchased Crossroads Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram in Liberty, Texas, from Bruce Glascock, Alfred Flores, Chris Godwin and Marc Wagoner, the company confirmed. The dealership's name remains, Foundation Automotive said. Liberty is northeast of Houston.

In April, Foundation Automotive bought a Stellantis store, also in Texas, from Glascock, Flores and Godwin of Affinity Dealer Group. Foundation Automotive bought six other Texas dealerships in 2022 in two separate transactions.

Foundation Automotive, of Calgary, Alberta, has a U.S. base in Houston. In addition to Tennessee and Texas, the group has dealerships in Colorado and North Dakota, plus three in Canada.

City Auto Group co-owner buys dealerships in Indiana, Iowa

Dealer Shawn Kohli, co-owner of City Auto Group in Chicago, bought two dealerships on his own in two separate deals.

Kohli said he bought Berman Infiniti of Merrillville in Indiana from Berman Auto Group on Dec. 16. The dealership was renamed Patriot Infiniti of Merrillville. Merrillville, in northwest Indiana, is south of Gary.

It marks the first Infiniti store for Kohli.

"I like to buy undervalued assets, just in general, not just with car dealerships, but real estate, whatever," Kohli told Automotive News. "I think this was definitely an undervalued asset, with an opportunity to build a value rather than pay for it."

A little over a month later, Kohli bought another dealership, this time in a new state.

Kohli on Jan. 17 bought Strieter Motor Co., a Lincoln dealership, in Davenport, Iowa, from Jeff Helms. The dealership was renamed Patriot Lincoln of Davenport. Davenport is in eastern Iowa, along the Mississippi River and across from the Illinois border.

Lincoln is also a new brand for Kohli.

Kohli owns City Auto with partner Anthony Scala. City Auto, which bought a Stellantis dealership in April in Wisconsin, also owns a Chevrolet dealership and two Volkswagen stores in Illinois, plus a Volkswagen dealership in Indiana.

Paul Kechnie and Mark Shackelford of the Texas and Midwest region of Performance Brokerage Services, an Irvine, Calif., buy-sell firm, facilitated both the Merrillville and Davenport transactions.

Dick Hannah Dealerships expands in Portland, Ore., area

Dick Hannah Dealerships of Vancouver, Wash., expanded in the Portland, Ore., area on Oct. 17 when it purchased two dealerships in Sandy, Ore., from Suburban Auto Group.

The former Suburban Ford store was renamed Dick Hannah Ford while the former Suburban Chevrolet store was renamed Dick Hannah Chevrolet, according to DCG Acquisitions, which brokered the deal. Sandy is southeast of Portland.

"We are looking forward to serving Sandy, Ore., and surrounding communities," Jennifer Hannah, vice president of Dick Hannah Dealerships, said in a statement on the group's website.

The family-owned Dick Hannah group has dealerships in Washington and Oregon, according to its website.
Nancy and Jerry Jaksich and their daughter Erinn Sowle owned the dealerships under the Suburban Auto Group name, according to a story in The Sandy Post.

George Pero, national vice president of sales for DCG Acquisitions, represented the buyer and seller in the transaction.