Gee Automotive adds Chevy, Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Ford dealerships

Fast-growing Gee Automotive Cos. made its first franchised dealership acquisition since late 2020 with the purchase of three domestic dealerships near Portland.

Gee Automotive of Liberty Lake, Wash., on Wednesday bought Dick's Hillsboro Chevrolet, Dick's Country Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge and Dick's MacKenzie Ford, all in Hillsboro, Ore., from siblings Shannon Inukai-Cuffee and Scott Inukai of Dick's Auto Group.

Terms were not disclosed. The stores were renamed Tonkin Hillsboro Chevrolet, Tonkin Hillsboro Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram and Tonkin Hillsboro Ford.

Gee Automotive President Jeff Jackson described Hillsboro, west of Portland, as a growing submarket and noted that the group retained all of the stores' employees.

"We have 14 other dealerships in the greater Portland area," Jackson told Automotive News. "We're looking to expand the business. It was a natural fit where we can kind of bring it under the Tonkin platform of dealerships. Everything in Portland is branded under Tonkin. There's some synergies there with our existing dealerships."

In 2017, Gee Automotive bought 13 dealerships in the Portland area from Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships.

While Gee Automotive already had each of the domestic brands in its portfolio, Jackson noted that Tonkin Hillsboro Ford is its first Ford dealership in the Portland market.

Dick's Auto Group owned the Chevrolet store for less than a year. Inukai-Cuffee and Inukai bought Bruce Chevrolet from longtime owner Bruce Patchett in April.

Dick's Auto was founded in 1985 when the siblings' father, Dick Inukai, acquired a Dodge dealership. With a partner, he later acquired a Ford dealership.

In 1943, Dick Inukai was born in a Japanese-American internment camp in Tulelake, Calif. He entered the auto retail industry in 1962 as a dealership salesman. He died in 2011, and the siblings became co-owners of the group, which still includes Honda and Hyundai dealerships.

Gee Automotive now has 30 franchised dealerships spread across Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Gee Automotive also owns two pre-owned dealerships, a vehicle acquisition center, a recreational vehicle dealership and a Ducati motorcycle dealership.

In November 2020, Gee Automotive bought five luxury dealerships in Boise, Idaho, from Lyle Pearson Auto Group.

Gee Automotive is looking for more acquisition opportunities, Jackson said.

"We're looking in the western United States," he said.

Gee Automotive Cos. ranks No. 53 on Automotive News' most recent list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 16,231 new vehicles in 2020.

George Pero and Joe Beaver of DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, handled the transaction for both parties.