Kia, Subaru, Buick-GMC and Honda dealerships sell in Q4, Q1 transactions

Two Automotive News top 150 dealership groups purchased import stores while longtime mid-Atlantic retailer i.g. Burton Auto Group acquired three stores, in fourth- and first-quarter transactions.

Here's a look at the deals involving import and domestic dealerships in Maryland, Texas and Delaware.

Chris Ourisman, of Ourisman Automotive Group, on Jan. 24 purchased Shockley Honda in Frederick, Md., from Marisa and Mike Shockley.

Part of the attraction of the store, renamed Ourisman Honda of Frederick, was its one-price, one-person sales model, Ourisman, president of the group, told Automotive News. One employee assists customers through the entire sales transaction using this model.

"What we don't do is simply write an offer and disappear. It really becomes relationship-driven," Ourisman said. "A seller opts in to us just as much as we opt in to an opportunity.

"We have other businesses in the Frederick market and a long history working with Honda," he added.

The purchase was excluded from Graham Ourisman Automotive, Ourisman's partnership with publicly traded Graham Holdings Co., a diversified company that owns dealerships, educational provider Kaplan Inc. and, formerly, The Washington Post. The Shockley Honda deal best fit under the Ourisman structure, Ourisman said.

In addition to retaining the store's 50 employees, Ourisman Automotive hired additional staff to support the one-price, one-person sales model. Ourisman said the Honda dealership is his group's first one-price, one-person store.

Ourisman Automotive and its partnership continue to grow. Graham Ourisman expanded its dealership holdings with the purchase of McGeorge Toyota in Henrico, Va., in September. In December, it launched an open-point Kia dealership in Bethesda, Md. This year, Ourisman Automotive was awarded an open-point dealership in Rockville, Md. — Ourisman Fisker.

"We have no specific number or plan beyond growing until the team says it's untenable," Ourisman said. "To satisfy the dynamic nature of our group, growth is required."

Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., buy-sell firm, advised the Shockley siblings in the sale. The store had been family-operated for more than 50 years.

Ourisman Automotive, of Marlow Heights, Md., ranks No. 16 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 31,682 new vehicles in 2022.

Shottenkirk Automotive Group Inc. on Dec. 20 bought Fort Bend Kia in Rosenberg, Texas, from Virgil Skinner. The dealership, near Houston, was renamed Shottenkirk Fort Bend Kia.

In June, the group bought a JLR dealership outside San Antonio in Boerne, Texas.

Ben Hicks Sr., of Hicks Management & Consulting Group Inc., advised the buyer and seller in the deal.

Shottenkirk Automotive, of Prosper, Texas, a Dallas suburb, ranks No. 56 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 14,429 new vehicles in 2022.

Charles Burton and MJ Lofland, owners of i.g. Burton Auto Group, acquired three dealerships in two transactions.

On Oct. 2, they bought Wilkins Subaru and Wilkins Buick-GMC in Glen Burnie, Md., a suburb of Baltimore, from Maury and Jeremy Wilkins. The dealerships were renamed i.g. Burton Subaru of Glen Burnie and i.g. Burton Buick-GMC of Glen Burnie.

On March 7, Burton and Lofland bought C.F. Schwartz Toyota in Dover, Del., from Linda Schwartz-Chi and Robert Schwartz. The store's new name is i.g. Burton Toyota of Dover.

The Burton family has sold cars in Delaware since 1908, along with its Maryland stores. Burton Auto Group retails Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, Fiat, BMW and Mercedes-Benz vehicles.