Lithia enters motorcycle market with purchase of Pfaff Harley-Davidson in Canada

Lithia Motors Inc. is now in the motorcycle dealership business with its purchase of  Pfaff Harley-Davidson of Toronto.

“Harley-Davidson is a storied brand with a rich history, passionate owners, and a premium product lineup that is well aligned with our business model,” LAD CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a statement.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The addition of Pfaff Harley-Davidson brings Lithia's total expected annualized revenue acquired in 2021 to nearly $6.3 billion. 

The company said it is well ahead of schedule and positioned to exceed plans to reach $50 billion in revenue and $50 of earnings per share by 2025.

The deal comes more than two months after Medford, Ore.-based Lithia finalized its purchase of Canadian dealership group Pfaff Automotive Partners of Toronto.

Lithia's Pfaff acquisition included 11 franchised dealerships representing mass-market, luxury and exotic brands ranging from Mini and Subaru to BMW, Porsche and McLaren. The deal also included a used-only store as well as a leasing business operating in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.

The Harley-Davidson store wasn’t part of the deal at the time.

Chris Pfaff, who remains CEO of Pfaff Automotive Partners under ownership of Lithia, said in September that the plan was for the company “to grow very quickly here in Canada.”

Lithia ranked No. 3 on Automotive News' most recent list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 171,168 new vehicles in 2020. But with its April acquisition of 34 stores from Michigan's Suburban Collection, Lithia passed Penske Automotive Group to become the country's second-largest dealership group.