Sonic Automotive Inc. sold a longtime Volvo store in Houston this week, while dealers purchased stores in Kansas, Pennsylvania and New Jersey during the second quarter.
Here's a quick look at the transactions involving domestic-, import- and luxury-brand stores. Two transactions involved groups ranked on Automotive News' top 150 dealership groups.
Swickard Auto Group has entered the popular Texas market, buying a Volvo store in Houston from Sonic, the nation's seventh-largest new-vehicle retailer.
Swickard said Tuesday that it purchased Sonic's Momentum Volvo Cars. The longtime Sonic store has been renamed Volvo Cars Southwest Houston. No broker was used in the transaction.
"We wanted to expand in the Texas marketplace," said Jeff Swickard, dealer principal of the group which also has dealerships in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and California. Swickard, which ranks No. 91 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., said he now has 23 franchises.
This week, Swickard also purchased Magic Toyota in Edmonds, Wash., from David Broadus. That store was renamed Swickard Toyota.
The Swickard group also has been awarded an open Mercedes-Benz point that will be named Mercedes-Benz South Austin in Texas, according to Texas Department of Motor Vehicles board minutes.
Mercedes-Benz of Austin had contested the new point. The Texas DMV board in April upheld an administrative law judge's opinion to grant and approve a new franchise dealership license for Swickard's new store.
Swickard said his new Volvo store will be relocating to a nearby location.
Sonic, through a spokesman, confirmed the sale but did not immediately offer any other comment.
The Volvo dealership shared space with Sonic's Jaguar-Land Rover dealerships, all under one rooftop. Sonic built a new dealership next door to house Jaguar Southwest Houston and Land Rover Southwest Houston and that facility opened this week.
Colliers International is marketing the old Volvo-Jaguar-Land Rover dealership site for sale or lease.
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.Max Motors Dealerships of Harrisonville, Mo., has acquired Ford and Hyundai dealerships as it entered its second state.
The company on Monday bought Flint Hills Ford and Flint Hills Hyundai in Manhattan, Kan., from sellers Keith Orr, Trey Patterson and William Sparks, said Max Motors CEO Bob Jacaway.
The stores have been renamed Max Ford of Manhattan and Max Hyundai of Manhattan.
"We are overjoyed to have a presence in Manhattan, Kansas," Jacaway said in a statement. "Manhattan is a thriving community and we look forward to serving those who live there and the surrounding areas."
Max Motors was founded in 2006 in Butler, Mo., by Mark Muller. He and his family starred in "God, Guns & Automobiles," a reality TV show that aired on the History Channel.
Max Motors has a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store in Belton, Mo., a Ford store in Harrisonville, a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-Ford store in Butler and a Chevrolet-Buick-GMC dealership in Nevada, Mo. It also has a collision center in Harrisonville and a used-vehicle dealership in Belton.
Jacaway told Automotive News that he's hoping to double, if not triple, the size of the Max Motors group.
"We're in growth mode and we want to acquire more stores," he said.
Max Motors worked with broker Don Brown of Midwest Brokerage on the transaction. The sellers were represented by Greg Errion Consulting.
Stuckey Automotive of Duncansville, Pa., on Wednesday acquired its second Ford dealership and fifth store overall when it bought Joel Confer Ford of Bellefonte in Pennsylvania. Dealer Joel Confer was the seller.
The dealership has been renamed Stuckey Ford of Bellefonte.
Bellefonte is located near Penn State University in central Pennsylvania.
The Stuckey group also includes Stuckey Ford and Stuckey Subaru, both in Hollidaysburg; Stuckey Buick-GMC in Altoona; and Stuckey Mitsubishi in State College — all in Pennsylvania. Stuckey acquired the Mitsubishi store in July 2020.
Neither party used a broker. Confer still owns Joel Confer Toyota-BMW in State College.
World Auto Group on May 4 sold Nissan World of Red Bank in New Jersey to Michael Ianelli of Integrity Auto Group. The dealership has been renamed Nissan City of Red Bank.
Integrity Auto Group also includes Toyota City in Mamaroneck, N.Y., and Hyundai City of Bay Ridge-Genesis of Brooklyn in New York.
World Auto, based in Springfield, N.J., now has 10 dealerships. In November, World Auto acquired Audi Newton in New Jersey. World Auto ranks No. 148 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 4,916 new vehicles in 2020.
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