Acquisitions propel Lithia to list’s top spot

The most notable change on Automotive News’ annual list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S. is at the very top.

Lithia Motors, once the smallest publicly traded dealership group before embarking on a multiyear dealership buying spree, passed longtime No. 1 AutoNation in new vehicles sold in 2022.

The toppling of AutoNation, which had held the top spot since 1997, was expected as Lithia continued buying dealerships at a rate far outpacing its rival. That pushed Lithia’s new-vehicle sales last year up 4.2 percent to 271,596.

Acquisitions drove several other retailers to higher spots on the list.

One of the biggest climbers, Empire Automotive Group of Huntington Station, N.Y., rose 31 spots to No. 67 after key acquisitions in its home state lifted its new-vehicle sales 21 percent to 12,829. Empire added four stores last year and entered the Brooklyn borough of New York City by buying an Audi store and its first Nissan store in October.

“We have a philosophy of strategic growth,” Empire CEO Michael Brown told Automotive News. “We’ve made some really good acquisitions we’re happy about so far.”

And more expansion is on the horizon for the 18-store group with a possible five-store acquisition outside of New York that could happen this summer, Brown said. “One of my biggest goals is to continue to provide opportunity,” he said.

Empire is one of 29 retailers that rose 10 or more spots on the list.

The top 150 groups collectively retailed 3,233,234 new vehicles, down 6.7 percent from 2021 as overall industry sales tumbled 8 percent last year, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center, which compiles the list. Combined retail and fleet sales for the groups on the list were 3,440,740 new vehicles, or 24.8 percent of the industry’s total new light-vehicle sales of 13,865,891 in 2022.

AutoNation fell to No. 2 with retail sales of 229,971 new vehicles last year, down 12 percent, while Penske Automotive Group remained at No. 3. with retail sales of 185,831 new vehicles, down 4.9 percent.

Group 1 Automotive and Asbury Automotive Group stayed at Nos. 4 and 5. Group 1 retailed 154,714 vehicles in 2022, down 5.9 percent. Asbury, in its first year after its 2021 acquisition of megaretailer Larry H. Miller Dealerships, retailed 151,179 new vehicles, up 38 percent.

Sonic Automotive and Hendrick Automotive Group swapped places. Sonic took the No. 6 spot, while Hendrick moved to No. 7. Sonic retailed 101,168 new vehicles in 2022, up 1.2 percent from 2021.

Hendrick retailed 89,974 new vehicles in 2022, down 13 percent.

Sales numbers for Lithia, Penske and Group 1 included some vehicles retailed at their dealerships outside the U.S. Lithia, for instance, recorded sales last year from stores in Canada, but that Canadian volume didn’t play a role in Lithia passing AutoNation for the top spot.

Morgan Automotive Group and Ken Garff Automotive Group stayed at No. 8 and No. 9. Morgan Auto cracked the top 10 for the first time on the list published a year ago. Staluppi Auto Group came in at No. 10, bumping David Wilson Automotive Group down to No. 11.

The dealership groups in the top 10 collectively sold 1,408,912 new vehicles, including fleet vehicles, or 10.2 percent of the U.S. light-vehicle market. The top 10 were responsible for 41.7 percent of the top 150’s total new-vehicle sales.

Some large dealership groups that may have qualified for the top 150 declined to respond to Automotive News’ survey.

They included Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, which perennially placed among the top 10 under its former owner, Van Tuyl Group.

Another retailing giant that did not participate is Automotive Management Services of West Palm Beach, Fla., which supports the group of stores owned by Terry Taylor.

Braman Dealerships, No. 21 a year ago, declined to participate in this year’s survey. West-Herr Automotive Group and Zeigler Auto Group, Nos. 17 and 44 a year ago, did not respond.

Other groups beyond Empire Automotive rising 10 spots or more include Shottenkirk Automotive Group of Prosper, Texas, up 43 spots to No. 56; Brandon Steven Motors of Wichita, Kan., up 34 spots to No. 89; and Ciocca Dealerships of Allentown, Pa., up 32 spots to No. 51.

Ten groups on the 2022 list fell by 10 or more spots.

Curry Automotive Group of Scarsdale, N.Y., tumbled the farthest, dropping 27 spots to No. 133. John Elway Dealerships of Phoenix dropped 21 spots to No. 123, and Garber Management Group of Saginaw, Mich., fell 18 spots to No. 77.

Thirteen dealership groups are new to this year’s list.

Ken Ganley Automotive Group of Broadview Heights, Ohio, south of Cleveland, rose one spot to No. 14 with retail sales of 36,409 new vehicles in 2022, up 0.91 percent.

The group bought four dealerships in 2022 and two in 2021. It continues to seek more stores, said Ken Ganley, the group’s CEO.

“With COVID, when you had volume dropping like it did nationwide, the only real way to keep your total volume number at the same [level] or to grow, would have been through acquisitions,” Ganley said. “We’re very aggressive. We’re looking to grow all the time. All of the acquisitions made a lot of sense but also added a lot of volume.”

Jack Walsworth and Julie Walker contributed to this report.