Two growing auto retailers expanded with multiple third-quarter and fourth-quarter transactions.
Here's a look at the deals involving import and luxury dealerships in West Virginia, Ohio, New York and Massachusetts. Two deals involved an auto retailer ranked on Automotive News' top 150 dealership groups list.
Ganley goes on Kia buying spree
Growing Ken Ganley Cos. entered a new state and bulked up its Ohio footprint with acquisitions in September and this month.
The group, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, bought Freedom Kia of Clarksburg in Bridgeport, W.Va., from Mike Wood on Sept. 1, according to CEO Ken Ganley. The dealership was renamed Ken Ganley Kia Clarksburg.
It marks the group's first dealership in West Virginia, Ganley said. Bridgeport is in the northern part of the state, southwest of Morgantown.
The acquisition follows Ganley's February purchase of a Kia dealership in Mentor, Ohio, northeast of Cleveland.
On Nov. 8, Ken Ganley Cos. bought two more Kia dealerships, also in Ohio. The group purchased Taylor Kia of Boardman and Taylor Kia of Alliance from Matthew Taylor.
The stores were renamed Ken Ganley Kia Boardman and Ken Ganley Kia Alliance, Ganley said. Boardman is south of Youngstown, and Alliance is southeast of Akron.
Ganley now has five Kia dealerships in his portfolio.
"It's a wonderful brand; the products are phenomenal," Ganley told Automotive News. "I really like the national and regional leadership. They've been wonderful to work with. I couldn't be happier with Kia."
Taylor sold two dealerships to Diehl Automotive Group in May and another store, also to Diehl Automotive, in June.
Ganley said the two Kia stores were Taylor's last dealerships. Ganley noted that Taylor has stayed on to run the two dealerships he sold.
Drew Picon, a managing director of DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, handled the Ganley-Taylor transaction.
Ken Ganley Cos. ranks No. 15 on Automotive News' most recent list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 36,079 new vehicles in 2021.