Rosenthal Automotive Organization buys Honda, Acura, Mazda and Hyundai-Genesis dealerships

Sussman Automotive Group, based in the Delaware Valley, sold four franchised dealerships to Rosenthal Automotive Organization on June 22, according to Bel Air Partners, a buy-sell advisory firm in Hopewell, N.J., which represented the seller in the transaction.

Sheldon Sandler, CEO of Bel Air Partners, told Automotive News that the sale consisted of dealerships in the northern Philadelphia region. The sale included: Marty Sussman Honda in Abington, Sussman Hyundai-Genesis in Willow Grove, Sussman Mazda in Willow Grove and Sussman Acura in Jenkintown, all in Pennsylvania.

The transaction also included a used-vehicle dealership, Sandler said.

Sandler said the dealerships would be renamed Honda of Abington, Hyundai-Genesis of Abington, Mazda of Abington and Acura of Abington.

"Our company right now is on a trajectory to grow our business and we've been actively acquiring dealerships a lot in the past few years," George Liu, CEO of Rosenthal Automotive told Automotive News. "We're still continuing on that path, so this particular acquisition was a good fit because it consisted of brands that we already owned and it was a natural fit."

Liu said Rosenthal planned on making facility upgrades to the stores and implementing training programs for employees.

Sussman Automotive was family owned and operated in the Philadelphia area for more than 50 years prior to the sale, according to the company's website. Sandler said when Sussman Automotive ultimately decided to sell, several other automotive groups submitted bids, but Rosenthal ultimately won out.

"This is a family of venerated, iconic Philadelphia auto dealerships," Sandler said.

Sandler said Bel Air Partners previously represented Sussman in a sale of three of its New Jersey stores to Group 1 Automotive Inc. in 2006.

Sussman Automotive retained ownership of Sussman Kia in Roslyn, Pa., Sandler said.

Rosenthal Automotive of Reston, Va. also has dealerships in Virginia and Maryland. It ranks No. 105 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 9,638 new vehicles in 2021.