LaFontaine, Gilchrist, 2 other dealership groups buy stores across the Midwest, South

Four dealership groups — two in the Midwest and two in the South — expanded in the third quarter with single-store or two-store acquisitions.

Here's a quick look at deals involving import- and domestic-brand stores. Two transactions involved an Automotive News' top 150 dealership group.

LaFontaine Automotive Group last month purchased its first Lincoln dealership — one it plans to relocate to a new facility about 25 miles away.

LaFontaine, of Highland, Mich., on July 30 bought Signature Lincoln in Owosso, Mich., from the Joe Falzon-owned Signature Auto Group. LaFontaine has temporarily moved the Lincoln franchise to its Ford store in nearby Flushing, Mich., while it builds a new store for the Lincoln outlet in nearby Genesee County's Mundy Township.

"Lincoln has long been a brand we have been looking to add to our portfolio and are eager to capture the significant potential that exists with this acclaimed luxury brand," LaFontaine CEO Ryan LaFontaine said in a statement.

LaFontaine spokesman Max Muncey told Automotive News that the company is not disclosing how much it will spend on the project, but said it expects construction to take about 18 months.

Signature retained its Ford dealership in Owosso where Lincoln had been located, Muncey said.

LaFontaine said Josh Sloan will oversee LaFontaine Lincoln. He also oversees the Ford store in Flushing and LaFontaine Ford of Birch Run, also in Michigan.

The growing LaFontaine group now has 27 Michigan locations including 46 franchises and 10 collision centers.

Last month, LaFontaine acquired Ralph Thayer Automotive's three stores in Livonia, Mich., adding Hyundai, Mazda and Volkswagen outlets.

LaFontaine ranks No. 43 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 19,565 new vehicles in 2020.

Performance Brokerage Services handled the Signature transaction for LaFontaine.

Texas expansion
Gilchrist Automotive of Hudson Oaks, Texas, has purchased a large Ford-Lincoln dealership southwest of Fort Worth, marking its third Ford location and first Lincoln outlet.

Gilchrist on Monday bought Texstar Ford-Lincoln in Stephenville from Doug Montgomery and Sherri Montgomery. The store has been renamed Triple Crown Ford-Lincoln.

Dealer Operator Stephen Gilchrist said his company is bullish on the Ford brand and its future.

"This store is in the heart of truck and large SUV country, so we have high expectations for the store," he wrote in an email. "Stephenville is known as the Cowboy Capital of the World. The area is growing and is home to Tarleton State University."

In late January, Gilchrist Automotive bought a Chevrolet store and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership in Ennis, Texas, from Will Churchill.

Gilchrist said the company continues to look for acquisitions.

Gilchrist Automotive ranks No. 108 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 8,530 new vehicles in 2020.

Northwest Indiana acquisition
Castle Automotive Group on Aug. 10 acquired its first Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership, along with a rare standalone Buick store.

Castle Automotive of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., bought Connors Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Connors Buick, both in Chesterton, Ind., from the Connors family. The dealerships have been renamed Castle Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Castle Buick.

As of Jan. 1, 2021, there were just 14 exclusive Buick dealerships in the country, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

"We like Buick," said Andrew Dorgan, director of corporate development at Castle Automotive. "We've really wanted to get in the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram family for a couple of years. This was the first transaction we were able to close on. And we really, really like Indiana."

Castle Automotive now has eight dealerships across suburban Chicago and northwest Indiana. Its brand portfolio also includes Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Lincoln, Mitsubishi and Subaru.

Chesterton is about a 20-minute drive from Castle's Mitsubishi and Subaru stores in Portage, Ind., as well as its Ford-Lincoln dealership in Michigan City, Ind.

"It's a lot easier to grow in your geographic footprint and move people around your organization and promote them than buying a store four hours away," Dorgan said. "So we did that."

Kansas City-area deal
Wood Motor Co. expanded into the Kansas City market when it acquired its second Nissan dealership on Aug. 12.
Wood Motor bought Prestige Nissan Kansas City in Lee's Summit, Mo., from Kevin McGown. Lee's Summit is southeast of Kansas City, Mo. The store has been renamed Wood Motor Nissan Kansas City.

Wood Motor, of Harrison, Ark., now has five dealerships in Arkansas and Missouri.

The group owns Wood Motor Nissan and Wood Motor Chevrolet in Harrison, which is in the northwest part of the state near the Missouri border. It also owns Wood Motor Ford and Wood Motor Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Jane, Mo., just across the Arkansas border and north of Bentonville, home of retail giant Walmart.

Lee's Summit is about a three hour's drive from Jane.

"We kind of wanted to go try our hand in a larger market," said Chip Johnson, owner of Wood Motor.

Johnson said the group had been looking to acquire dealerships within a 200- to 300-mile radius of northwest Arkansas. It also looked at Little Rock, Ark., and Tulsa, Okla.

Jody Henderson of Dealer Solutions Mergers and Acquisitions, a dealership buy-sell firm based in Markham, Ontario, and with a U.S. office in Jupiter, Fla., represented McGown in the transaction. Wood Motor did not use a broker, Johnson said.