Martin Management Group expands in 3 states in 3 separate acquisitions

Martin Management Group bolstered its presence in three states with the purchases of three dealerships — all in separate 2022 transactions.

Martin Management, of Bowling Green, Ky., bought Car Pros Volkswagen of San Bernardino in California on Dec. 15 from Car Pros Automotive Group, Chad Martin, Martin Management Group president, told Automotive News.

The dealership was renamed Volkswagen San Bernardino. San Bernardino is east of Los Angeles.

This marks the third California dealership for the group, Martin confirmed. In June 2021, Martin Management bought a Nissan store in El Monte, Calif.

"We've been looking to continue to grow in the largest car market in the country," Martin said of California.

Martin said Kerrigan Advisors, a sell-side firm in Incline Village, Nev., represented Car Pros Automotive in the transaction.

Car Pros, of Renton, Wash., ranks No. 55 on the most recent Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 16,128 new vehicles in 2021. Martin Management ranks No. 132 on the list, retailing 7,068 new vehicles in 2021.

Martin Management's California purchase follows a September acquisition of a Stellantis store in Ohio.

On Sept. 14, the group bought Evans Arena Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Dayton, Ohio, from dealer Jim Evans, Martin said. The dealership was renamed Dayton Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram. Martin Management now has four dealerships in the Dayton area, joining a Subaru store and two Kia dealerships.

Tim Wild, director of the Midwest and Plains region for Tim Lamb Group, a buy-sell firm in Columbus, Ohio, represented the seller in that deal.

In the third quarter, Martin Management bought a Volkswagen store in West Virginia.

On Aug. 30, the group bought Weimer Volkswagen of Morgantown from the Weimer family. The dealership was renamed Volkswagen Morgantown.

Morgantown, home of West Virginia University, is in the northern part of the state, near the Pennsylvania border.

The Volkswagen store marks the second dealership in West Virginia for Martin Management. It owns an Audi-Volkswagen store in Clarksburg, which is south of Morgantown.

"They've been a great partner of ours," Martin said of Volkswagen. "And so when this opportunity came up, it was so close to our other Volkswagen store, it seemed like a great synergy play for our group."

Martin said the West Virginia acquisition marks the group's first since it bought the Nissan dealership in El Monte.

Courtney Bernhard and George Chaconas of the Southeast region of Performance Brokerage Services, an Irvine, Calif., buy-sell firm, facilitated the Morgantown transaction.

Martin Management also has dealerships in South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.