Toyota, Mitsubishi, Infiniti, Ford car dealerships sell

A longtime auto retail manager purchased his first dealership, an investment firm expanded its dealership portfolio and a 25-year-old woman will lead her first franchised store as dealer principal, all in second- and third-quarter transactions.
Here's a look at the deals involving luxury, domestic and import brand stores in Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Nearly 30 years since his auto retail career began, Moe Fahmy gained the title he always wanted: Owner.
Fahmy purchased Infiniti of Las Vegas in Nevada on Aug. 1 from John Staluppi Jr. and his Superstore Auto Group.
"Since day one, since I started in this business, back in 1995, I always wanted to own my own store," Fahmy told Automotive News.
Staluppi bought the store in 2017 from Park Place Dealerships, Fahmy said. Fahmy started as general manager and became an executive manager at the Infiniti store in June 2019.
Fahmy said he enjoyed working with Infiniti and helping Staluppi turn it into a profitable operation.

He said he has helped Staluppi enhance the bottom line for the past 20 years at other stores, too, including a Hyundai dealership in Las Vegas.

Fahmy's success and reputation helped him secure financing, said Connor Duncan, vice president of dealerships for Live Oak Bank, which financed the transaction.
"When he approached us about helping finance the acquisition, his story resonated with the profile of a customer we want to be in business with," Duncan told Automotive News via email.

Fahmy said he added staff but otherwise made no changes.

"All the processes were already in place," Fahmy said.

The store's property includes an Infiniti building and another selling used vehicles. Fahmy said he would like to eventually add another franchise there. Fahmy, through his Glory Auto World, aims to own five dealerships by 2028, he said.
"I'm really open for any franchises that may come through," Fahmy said.
In May 2021, Staluppi sold four Las Vegas dealerships to public auto retail giant Lithia Motors Inc., including the Hyundai store, and Staluppi bought two Florida stores in January 2022.
Tim Devine, managing partner of Biltmore Automotive Services, represented Fahmy in the transaction.

A Ford dealership in New Jersey led by a woman will stay that way in its new era.
Veronica Maoli confirmed that she and her father Tom Maoli on May 1 purchased the former Downs Ford in Toms River, N.J., from Melissa Longo, her father Rick Riccardi Jr. and partner Robert Avison.
Veronica Maoli, 25, said she loved that she succeeded Longo as dealer principal for the store, renamed Celebrity Ford of Toms River. This is Maoli's first dealer principal position of a franchised store.
"We went through a bunch of different options for possible new dealerships," Veronica Maoli told Automotive News. "One of the things that really stuck out about this dealership was that fact that it was a woman-owned business and I really liked that."

A Ford spokesperson confirmed that Longo was the dealership's majority owner.
"This is a very male-dominated industry," Veronica Maoli said. "We're still taking steps to make it less male-dominated."
The women have kept in touch since the transaction closed.
"We're four months, almost five months after the acquisition at this point and I can text her," Maoli said. "She answers and she's really helpful. You don't always get that type of relationship between different sides of an acquisition."
The transaction marks the fourth store owned by the Maoli family under its Celebrity Motor Car Co. umbrella, Veronica Maoli said. They also own a Lexus store in Whippany, N.J., the group's headquarters, a BMW dealership in Springfield Township, N.J., and a Mercedes-Benz store in Goldens Bridge, N.Y.
"We also have a couple future stores in the pipeline," Veronica Maoli said, regarding acquisitions.

Managing Director Drew Picon and CEO Dave Cantin of advisory firm Dave Cantin Group represented both parties in the transaction.

Investment firms adds third store in Pennsylvania

Two family-owned dealerships selling the Toyota and Mitsubishi brands in Pennsylvania traded hands in a second-quarter transaction.

BFR Investments of Scranton, Pa., on June 7 purchased Halterman's Toyota and Halterman's Mitsubishi, both in East Stroudsburg, Pa., Pat Rogers, CFO for BFR Investments, confirmed to Automotive News.

Rogers, who also works as BFR's fixed operations director, said four people own the firm, but he declined to name them.

The Halterman family purchased the Mitsubishi store in 2011 and the Toyota store in 1966, according to a June Times Leader story.

BFR purchased its first store, Toyota of Scranton in Pennsylvania, in 2007, Rogers said.

Scranton is about 50 miles northwest of East Stroudsburg.

Rogers said the group kept all employees at the renamed Toyota of Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg Mitsubishi and plans to renovate the Mitsubishi building.

Rogers said the group hopes to expand, but until they do, they're happy to join a new community.