Lithia Motors re-enters Wisconsin with purchase of 5 dealerships

Editor's note: Lithia briefly owned a dealership in Wisconsin several years ago. An earlier version of this story said this was the company's first entry into the state.

Lithia Motors Inc. widened its Midwest footprint by re-entering Wisconsin with the purchase of five dealerships from Wilde Automotive Group.

Lithia bought Wilde East Towne Honda in Madison, the state's capital, Wilde Toyota in West Allis and Wilde Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, Wilde Subaru and Wilde Honda, all in Waukesha. West Allis and Waukesha are west of Milwaukee.

The transaction date wasn't immediately available, but Lithia said Tuesday the acquisition is expected to add $625 million in annual revenue.

"We are excited to welcome these high performing teams to our Lithia & Driveway family," Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a statement. "Their continuous pursuit of excellence has earned them numerous awards." Driveway is Lithia's digital retailing platform.

Wilde Automotive, of Waukesha, ranks No. 79 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 12,953 new vehicles in 2021.

In August, the affiliated Wilde Automotive Family sold its three Florida dealerships to Morgan Automotive Group.

Lithia's return to Wisconsin further builds out its Midwest network, which includes dealerships in Iowa and Michigan. Lithia had briefly owned a Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge store in La Crosse from 2006 until 2008, according to the retailer's annual reports.

The Wisconsin acquisition follows Lithia's July purchase of Elk Grove Ford in California.

The auto retail giant on Tuesday also said it expects to complete dealership divestitures totaling $625 million in annual revenue in 2022. Lithia has already sold several stores this year.

Lithia sold a Toyota dealership in North Dakota in July and a Subaru store in Montana in May.

In April, the auto retailer sold a Honda dealership in Texas and in March it sold a California Stellantis store. In January, Lithia closed its BMW of Utica dealership in New York.

Lithia, of Medford, Ore., ranks No. 2 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups, retailing 260,738 new vehicles in 2021.