GM, Nissan, Audi, Stellantis, Kia, Subaru and Mitsubishi dealerships sell in Q3, Q4 deals

Two growing dealership groups along with a budding joint venture were among buyers in third-quarter and fourth-quarter transactions.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic, import and luxury dealerships and stores in Illinois and New York.

One deal involved an auto retailer ranked on Automotive News' top 150 Dealership Groups list.

Dealership owners Jose Cazares and Lee Schreiber on Oct. 31, in their first joint venture, bought Reichert Chevrolet-Buick in Woodstock, Ill., from John Reichert.

Reichert plans to retire, Cazares and Schreiber told Automotive News. The Buick brand will cease operations at the store in up to 120 days, per a termination agreement with General Motors as part of the duo's buy-sell approval, Cazares and Schreiber said.

They renamed the store Woodstock Chevrolet. Woodstock is northwest of Chicago.

Schreiber's grandfather ran a Ford dealership for more than 50 years, and his father co-owned two dealerships, including Bull Valley Ford in Woodstock, Ill., where Cazares and Schreiber were colleagues from about 2011 to 2015.

Cazares bought his first dealership, Freeport Ford in Illinois, in fall 2021. Around the same time, Schreiber, who already owned Sterling Chevrolet in Illinois, was buying his second dealership, Dixon Ford-Volkswagen in Illinois. He bought that store Oct. 1.

During the sales, the friends and former colleagues commiserated.

"We went through the process together, and we collaborated on the whole process," Cazares said. "We decided that if want to grow in the future, we should try to do it together."

The duo plans to merge all their business operations in the next year or so, including Cazares' store in Freeport, and the stores now under the Schreiber Automotive umbrella.

"Like Jose said, we collaborate and work well together," Schreiber said. "We're both relatively the same age, so it works for us."

The owners said they kept most of the staff and plan to modernize the Reichert Chevrolet-Buick building, including adding more service stalls and new equipment to increase efficiency.

Both Schreiber and Cazares, who say they share similar goals, values and growth strategies, said they're looking to grow and diversify in the future, including expanding beyond Illinois.

"Wherever the opportunity arises," Cazares said. "We will take it out of state if an opportunity presents itself."

Empire Automotive Group of Huntington Station, N.Y., expanded again with two dealership purchases in Brooklyn, N.Y., marking their first stores in the city.

On Oct. 17, Empire Automotive bought Bay Ridge Nissan from BRAM Auto Group and on Oct. 20 bought Audi Brooklyn from the same North Bergen, N.J., company. Empire renamed its first Nissan store Empire Nissan of Bay Ridge. The Audi store name remains.

The October deals mark the fifth and sixth dealerships added in 11 months for Empire Auto, Joseph Gentile, general counsel for the company, told Automotive News.

Empire Automotive in June purchased the former Robert Chevrolet in Hicksville, N.Y. The company opened an open-point Hyundai dealership in Jamaica, N.Y., in April, and in December 2021, Empire Automotive purchased stores in St. James and Long Island City, N.Y.

Empire CEO Michael Brown credited a great team for helping fuel the company's rapid growth.

"It's the people," Brown said to Automotive News. "Without the people, we can't accomplish anything."

Brown said his group has an already successful Audi store and sees the brand thriving.
"With Nissan, we don't have the brand, so it was another opportunity to diversify," Brown said. "We also see Nissan as a brand that's really on the way up and growing, so we want to grow with it."

And continued growth for Empire Automotive, if the "right deals" come up, is indeed a goal, Brown said, adding that the company would consider adding different brands and expanding out of New York for a good fit.

BRAM Auto operates stores in New York and New Jersey.

Empire Automotive ranks No. 98 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 10,559 new vehicles in 2021.

Castle Automotive Group made its first dealership purchases of 2022, completing third- and fourth-quarter acquisitions.

Castle Automotive, of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., on July 27 bought Naperville Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram in Illinois from Ed Burke, said Andrew Dorgan, the group's director of corporate development.

The dealership was renamed Castle Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram Naperville. Naperville is west of Chicago.

It marked Castle's first purchase since it acquired a Volkswagen store in suburban Chicago in December 2021, Dorgan said.

Castle Automotive now has two Stellantis dealerships in its portfolio, having bought its first last year.

Jennifer Rafael, vice president for the Midwest region of Dealer Solutions Mergers and Acquisitions, represented Castle in the Naperville acquisition.

Also in the third quarter, Castle Automotive further expanded with the purchase of two stores in McHenry, Ill., northwest of Chicago.

Castle bought Gary Lang Auto Group, which included Gary Lang Kia-Mitsubishi-Subaru and Gary Lang Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac, from dealer Gary Lang. The General Motors and Kia-Subaru dealerships were acquired Sept. 30, while the Mitsubishi store was acquired Oct. 20, Dorgan said.

"It was just a really well-run entity," Dorgan said. "He [Lang] was interested in retiring, and we were able to retain a very strong management team."

The dealerships were renamed Castle Kia-Mitsubishi-Subaru McHenry and Castle Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac McHenry. The group refers to the two neighboring dealerships as Castle Autoplex McHenry.

The transaction also marked the first Kia and Cadillac franchises for the group, Dorgan said.