Five Star Automotive buys 5 Ind. stores, expands into Midwest

An Atlanta-based dealership group has expanded northward with its first purchase in the Midwest, last month acquiring five dealerships from the Mike Raisor Automotive Group in Lafayette, Ind.

Five Star Automotive Group on Feb. 20 closed on the Ford-Lincoln, Buick-GMC-Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Volkswagen Mike Raisor stores. Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed.

The dealerships have been rebranded Lafayette Ford-Lincoln, Lafayette Buick-GMC-Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz of Lafayette, Audi Lafayette and Lafayette Volkswagen.

The Five Star group, a family-owned operation, was founded in 1986 with one Dodge dealership in Macon, Ga. It has grown to 26 dealerships in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and now Indiana. The dealership group is owned by Dick Pope and Charlie Cantrell.

Wesley Pope, who oversees the group's stores, said the deal includes two new brands for Five Star: Audi and Volkswagen.

"We think Lafayette is just a great city, [a] single-point market with brands that we think are really good franchises," Wesley Pope told Automotive News. "We're excited about the location and the product mix."

Bob Morris, director of the Southeast region for the Tim Lamb Group, handled the transaction.