Chevy, Ford, Mitsubishi and Buick-GMC dealerships sell in Q3, Q4 deals

Partners expanded their General Motors store counts by two, including buying a dealership from public auto retailer Lithia Motors Inc., while other dealers and groups expanded their dealership holdings in separate third-quarter and fourth-quarter deals.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic and import dealerships and stores in Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Iowa and Virginia.

One transaction involved an auto retailer ranked on the Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups.

Partners buy two Midwest Chevy stores, including one from Lithia Motors

Stephen Shane, Seth Severin and Kevin Chernikoff purchased two Chevrolet stores in the last five months — one in Ohio and another in Michigan that was owned by Lithia Motors for just over a year.

The three partners on July 26 purchased Mathews Chevrolet-Buick in Bucyrus, Ohio. The store, renamed Chevrolet of Bucyrus, was purchased from Tim Mathews, Tom Weston, Dave Columber and Doug Moore, said Shane, dealer principal of the Bucyrus dealership.

The Bucyrus store will no longer sell Buick vehicles. Shane and his partners sold the Buick franchise back to General Motors because the brand's electric vehicle plan does not make sense for the rural market the store is in, he said. Bucyrus is north of Columbus, Ohio.

Shane, Severin and Chernikoff have been business partners for 14 years, Shane said. They co-own several GM dealerships in Ohio and a Stellantis store in the state as well.

The three partners were joined by Shane's wife, Shelly Shane, in purchasing Suburban Chevrolet of Clinton in Michigan, from Lithia, on Nov. 14, Stephen Shane said. The store marks Severin, Chernikoff and the Shanes' first dealership in Michigan.

Chevrolet of Clinton is one of 34 stores acquired by Lithia in its April 2021 purchase of Michigan's Suburban Collection.

The rural market that Shane, Severin and Chernikoff operate in was a factor in both recent purchases, Stephen Shane said. The Bucyrus store creates what Shane described as a square geographical area with the partners' other Ohio stores.

"It kind of leaves us to where we own almost all the GM stores, other than a couple, for about 150 square miles probably, just because we have that whole perimeter," he told Automotive News.

Lithia, of Medford, Ore., ranks No. 2 on the Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 260,738 new vehicles in 2021.

The Tim Lamb Group, a buy-sell firm in Columbus, represented the seller in the Ohio acquisition.

Koncept Automotive adds Ford dealerships in two states

Husband and wife team Ryan Martin and Maria Velasquez of Koncept Automotive Group in Houston on Sept. 16 purchased Hamilton Ford in Crane, Mo., from dealer Mark Hamilton.

Hamilton Ford — the name remains unchanged — is the Koncept group's third new-car dealership, all Ford stores and all purchased within about a year. Its other Ford dealerships are in Albia, Iowa, and Pratt, Kan., Martin told Automotive News in a phone interview.

Martin is general manager and Velasquez is dealer principal and owner of the locations, plus three used-car dealerships — two in Texas and one in Iowa.

Hamilton Ford is in southwest Missouri, an attractive market not far from Branson, Mo. Martin was interested in adding another Ford store, based on his experience with the brand, said Drew Bray. Bray is vice president of the mid-south region for buy-sell firm National Business Brokers in Irvine, Calif. He and Chris Teape, senior vice president of the firm's mid-south region, worked with both parties to facilitate the Hamilton Ford transaction.

"Also very important was the fact it was a sturdy and well-run store," Bray said. He said Hamilton, the selling dealer, intends to retire and has no other auto dealerships.

Martin said that three days before the Hamilton Ford deal closed, Koncept Automotive purchased the Iowa Ford store, Albia Motor Co., which it renamed Albia Ford.

The sellers are brothers and business partners Jack and Mike Scieszinski as well as other family members, Martin and Mike Scieszinski confirmed, in separate interviews.

The Scieszinskis also owned Chariton Ford, less than 30 miles away, in Chariton, Iowa. That store is now a used-vehicle sales and service location for Koncept Automotive.

Martin said Ford wanted the Chariton location closed as a new-car store and consolidated with the Albia store before Koncept Automotive could acquire the Albia dealership.

A Ford spokesperson declined to comment on the transaction. Martin said he intends to get the Chariton store approved as a Ford Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center.

Martin said Mike Scieszinski is staying on to manage the Iowa stores. Mike Scieszinski said his brother has retired and that the two dealerships were the family's only stores.

Pratt City Ford in Kansas was Koncept Automotive's first new-car dealership, which it purchased in October 2021, Martin said. National Business Brokers facilitated that sale from selling dealer Ralph Lanterman, Bray said.

Carver adds Mitsubishi store

Jarryd Carver, president of Winners Circle Automotive Group, has acquired his first Mitsubishi store.

He bought James River Mitsubishi in Hampton, Va., on Oct. 14 from Kyle Cambron and Michael Dalton, Carver told Automotive News.

Carver, an Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree in 2018, renamed the dealership Winners Circle Mitsubishi.

He also owns a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership in Hampton, Va. Carver acquired a Nissan store in January 2021 in Hampton and a Mazda dealership in Newport News, Va., in December 2021.

In October at the Automotive News Retail Forum: Chicago, Carver said he was in the process of acquiring three more dealerships. Those are slated to close in January, he said this month.

Bishop Automotive adds third dealership

Bishop Automotive on Oct. 3 added a third store to its portfolio by purchasing Benchley Bros., a Buick-GMC dealership in Clare, Mich., from longtime owner Rev Benchley.

Benchley Bros. is now named Bishop Buick-GMC of Clare. This marks a third market in Michigan for Bishop Automotive.

David Bishop, vice president of the group and an Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree in 2020, said Bishop Automotive was enticed by the store's location in mid-Michigan. The site isn't too far from where the family got its start in dealerships and where David's father, Tom Bishop, president of the group, bought into a dealership outside of Bay City, Mich.

"We ended up moving north pursuing different opportunities up in northern Michigan," David Bishop told Automotive News. "Once this opportunity presented itself to have a footprint back in mid-Michigan, we jumped on it."

The new store's location close to Northwood University in Midland, Mich., where he graduated from, was a sweetener, David Bishop said. He hopes to establish an internship program with the university's automotive program.

Bishop Automotive has two other General Motors stores in Rogers City and Cheboygan.

As for Benchley, David Bishop said he was ready to retire after 50 years at the helm of the dealership. He became the only owner after Bernie Benchley retired in the early 1980s, according to a September 2022 Wilcox Newspapers story.

Despite having an exclusive GM dealership portfolio, Bishop Automotive is open to branching out into new brands. David Bishop named Subaru and Stellantis as two automakers his group would consider.

For now, the focus is on getting the Bishop Buick-GMC of Clare image compliant through a multimillion-dollar facility upgrade, David Bishop said. He said they inherited a great team from the previous owner to help make that happen.

"There's a lot of great employees in Clare that we're fortunate to be able to keep," he said. "We're looking forward to building the dealership together."