Melissa Burden

Lithia continued its U.S. expansion last week, buying nine dealerships in southern Florida and one in Nevada, which are expected to add nearly $1 billion in annual revenue to the growing auto retailer.

McGovern Automotive Group, founded in 2016, has expanded to 18 dealerships across three Northeast states.

Lithia Motors in two acquisitions purchased eight dealerships in southern Florida and a Hyundai-Genesis dealership in Nevada.

Bruton Smith, a pioneer-turned-titan in both auto retailing and motorsports, leveraged small roles selling cars and promoting dirt-track races to create two business giants: Sonic Automotive and Speedway Motorsports.

Spitzer Management, which does business as Spitzer Autoworld, purchased two domestic-branded dealerships to expand its portfolio in Pennsylvania.

Smith took his NASCAR racetrack company, Speedway Motorsports, public in 1995, and a large dealership group, Sonic Automotive, public in 1997. He was 95.

Two larger dealership groups expanded in second-quarter transactions on the East and West coasts, while two smaller auto retailers also added stores in first-quarter and second-quarter purchases.

LMP Automotive filed federal lawsuits in two states seeking the return of deposits it made to acquire stores in New York and Texas. LMP terminated each of the transactions after it was unable to obtain approvals from manufacturers.

Kia, Hyundai, Chevy, Stellantis and Ford dealerships sold in second-quarter transactions in New York and Wisconsin.

Diehl Automotive Group has acquired three dealerships as it expands to a new market in western Pennsylvania.

Atlantic Coast Automotive Group has acquired six dealerships in New York state. The acquisition follows the June 2021 purchase of two Kia dealerships in Virginia.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, LMP, the company’s board of directors and defendants in the lawsuit denied the allegations and said they intended to “vigorously defend themselves.”

Morgan Automotive Group, Sandy Sansing Automotive and Max Motors Dealerships acquire stores in the second quarter.

Here's a look at dealership sales involving domestic, luxury and import stores.

Cannon Motor in May expanded to the Mississippi Gulf Coast with the purchase of three dealerships.