Fred Emich IV and three partners bought Gebhardt Volkswagen in Boulder, Colo., in November 2021.
Four dealership groups in fourth-quarter 2021 transactions bought either one or two stores as they expanded portfolios in Colorado, New York and Texas.
Here's a look at the deals involving import, domestic and luxury brands. One of the transactions involved a group on Automotive News' top 150 dealership groups list.
Fred Emich IV and three partners in November bought a Volkswagen dealership in Boulder, Colo., marking the group's second store with the German brand.
Emich IV said that he and his father Fred Emich III, cousin Colton Emich and Robert Colbert bought Gebhardt Volkswagen on Nov. 12 from Jim Gebhardt.
The dealership was renamed Emich Volkswagen of Boulder.
"We are hopeful the VW franchise will improve with electrification," Emich IV, dealer principal of the Boulder store, said in an email to Automotive News. "We have a successful VW store in Denver and felt the addition gave us a strategic advantage while not competing against each other."
Emich Automotive also includes a used-vehicle dealership in Denver and Emich Chevrolet in Lakewood, Colo., according to the group's website.
Fred Emich IV was an Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree in 2012.
Dealership Buy/Sell: This Automotive News feature lists dealership acquisitions as reported by brokers, news media and official announcements. See our list of buy/sells and submit details of your deals here.Empire Automotive Group of Huntington Station, N.Y., expanded with the purchase of two New York dealerships in December, one of which gets it closer to New York City.
The group on Dec. 14 bought City Buick-GMC-Cadillac in Long Island City, N.Y., from Sam Fox.
Empire Automotive General Counsel Joseph Gentile, in an email to Automotive News, said the group temporarily relocated the dealership to a nearby location in Woodside, N.Y., as it plans to construct new, separate showrooms for Cadillac and Buick-GMC at the Long Island City site. He said construction, set to begin this spring, should be completed in about two years.
That store was renamed Empire Cadillac of Long Island City-Empire Buick-GMC of Long Island City.
On Dec. 16, Empire Automotive also purchased Smithtown Volvo Cars in St. James, N.Y., from James George. The dealership was renamed Empire Volvo Cars Smithtown.
Gentile said Empire, now with 13 dealerships including a used-vehicle store, is "constantly looking for opportunities to expand."
He said Empire CEO Michael Brown sees a "bright future" for the Volvo brand amid its commitment to electric vehicles. Gentile said Empire Automotive operates a successful Buick-GMC dealership in Westchester County, N.Y., that it acquired in 2020. And Brown previously operated a Cadillac franchise and is excited to return to the brand, Gentile said.
"Empire also viewed this as the perfect opportunity to break into the boroughs of New York City," Gentile said. "It's a challenge which Empire understands can yield huge rewards."
Empire Automotive ranks No. 95 on Automotive News' most recent list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 9,726 new vehicles in 2020.
Sames Auto Group expanded its Texas footprint late in the fourth quarter of 2021 with the acquisition of two dealerships in the southern part of the state.
Sames Auto on Dec. 8 bought Family Nissan of Laredo and Family Chevrolet in Laredo from Paul Young and Greg Morgensen, according to Bill Scrivner, CEO of Pinnacle Mergers & Acquisitions, a Frisco, Texas, buy-sell firm. Scrivner along with Pinnacle's Mike Sims represented the sellers in the transaction.
Laredo is southwest of San Antonio, near the Mexico border.
The dealerships were renamed Sames Laredo Nissan and Sames Laredo Chevrolet.
Sames Auto, of Laredo, has nine other franchised dealerships in its portfolio, according to its website.
Clay Cooley of the Clay Cooley Auto Group in Irving, Texas, purchased a standalone Cadillac dealership in Garland, Texas, late last year.
Cooley on Nov. 17 bought Garland Cadillac from Chris Doherty of Doherty Automotive Group, according to Pinnacle's Scrivner. Scrivner and Wes Hamilton from Pinnacle represented the seller in the transaction.
The dealership was renamed Lone Star Cadillac.
In 2018, Doherty Automotive bought the Cadillac dealership from publicly traded auto retailer Sonic Automotive Inc. Sonic opted to sell the dealership at that time because it said the automaker wanted a facility upgrade that Sonic deemed didn't meet its return on investment, a Sonic executive told Automotive News at the time.
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