Carlock Automotive buys Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen-Volvo dealerships

Carlock Automotive Group of Nashville has expanded its presence in Alabama, buying three dealerships in Mobile from Rogelio Tovar of Gulf Coast Auto Group.

Eric Shepherd, vice president of operations for Carlock Automotive Group, said owner Clay Carlock bought Audi Mobile, Porsche Mobile and Volkswagen-Volvo Cars Mobile Sept. 1. The store names remain, he said.

"We're really excited about the entire Alabama-Tennessee market, from Nashville down to Mobile," Shepherd told Automotive News, adding that the transaction "made perfect sense" for the group.

With the acquisition, Carlock now has its first Audi dealership and expands its holdings to three Volkswagen, two Volvo and two Porsche stores, Shepherd said. The group plans to remodel the Volkswagen showroom in 2023, he added.

The acquisition follows Carlock's May purchase of Freedom Honda in Birmingham, Ala., from Victory Automotive Group, a store it renamed Carlock Honda.

With the Mobile acquisitions, Carlock now has 24 new-vehicle franchises at 14 dealerships in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.

The group hopes to buy more dealerships this year, Shepherd said.

"We do have one or two [more transactions] planned for the rest of the year," he said.

George Chaconas, southeast partner of Performance Brokerage Services, a buy-sell firm in Irvine, Calif., facilitated the Carlock-Tovar transaction.

Performance Brokerage Services also represented Tovar in his 2018 purchase of the Mobile dealerships, then Dean McCrary Imports, from Dean McCrary. Tovar owns several dealerships in southern Florida and New York state, according to his LinkedIn profile.