Group 1 sells Honda, Toyota dealerships in Massachusetts

Group 1 Automotive Inc. sold Honda and Toyota dealerships in Massachusetts, the company said last week.

The auto retailer sold Ira Honda in West Roxbury — a dealership it owned for just a few months — and Ira Toyota of Tewksbury to Automotive Management Services Inc., according to Pete DeLongchamps, Group 1's senior vice president of manufacturer relations, financial services and public affairs, and AMSI.

AMSI, of West Palm Beach, Fla., is owned by Terry Taylor.

The transaction date wasn't immediately available. Group 1 said the two dealerships combined generated about $125 million in revenues over the past year.

Ira Toyota of Tewksbury was renamed AutoFair Toyota of Tewksbury, AMSI confirmed. AMSI acquired AutoFair Automotive Group, a seven-store group in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, in December.

Ira Honda was renamed Parkway Honda. Gregg Vitello, a partner in Parkway Honda, told Automotive News he had been waiting for the chance to buy the Honda store, which is next to Parkway Toyota of Boston, a store in which he's also a partner. Taylor bought Parkway Toyota in March 2021 from Prime Automotive Group.

"It's a great opportunity," Vitello said of Parkway Honda. "We're very, very excited about it."

Vitello said he also is a partner in BMW of Freeport, Mini of Freeport and Mercedes-Benz of Massapequa in Amityville, all in New York state. Taylor acquired those stores from Group 1 in 2014, according to Automotive News' buy-sell database.

Group 1 acquired Ira Honda in West Roxbury from Prime Automotive Group in November, part of an $880-million purchase first announced in September. Group 1 said it planned to acquire 30 Prime dealerships and closed on the purchase of 28 stores. A Toyota dealership was dropped from the transaction due to Group 1's framework agreement limitations, while the purchase of Prime Subaru of Manchester in New Hampshire has been in dispute with distributor Subaru of New England.

"We evaluate each operation and often buy and sell dealerships to meet our internal objectives," DeLongchamps told Automotive News in an email about Group 1's decision to sell the Honda dealership.

Group 1 ranks No. 4 on Automotive News' most recent list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 140,221 new vehicles in 2020.