Buying Spree for Megas Covers Top F&I Stores
In reviving their dealership purchase programs this year, highline franchises with above-average F&I performances took a dominant position among the six major publicly owned consolidators.
Here's a rundown, as reported by the six in their second-quarter media and analyst conference calls:
- No. 1 megadealer AutoNation purchased Claridge's BMW in Fremont, Calif.
- No. 2 Sonic Automotive acquired the 12 Don Massey Cadillac stores, Plymouth, Mich., adding Massey's Crest Honda in Nashville, Tenn., and opening BMW Mini Cooper stores in Atlanta, Ga., and Greenville, S.C.
- No. 3 UnitedAuto Group purchased Anderson Honda, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
- No. 5 Asbury Automotive bought Troncalli Chrysler-Jeep in Roswell, Ga.
- No. 6 Group 1 Automotive bought a Buick-BMW-Jeep store in Tulsa, Okla., plus Nissan stores in Houston and near Boston. It was awarded three new franchises and a second Nissan point in Boston, Hummer in Tulsa and Ford in Pensacola, Fla. Group 1 finalized purchase of the six-franchise Miller group in Van Nuys, Calif., consisting of two Honda stores, along with one each of Infiniti, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota.
- No. 10 Lithia Motors bought two Omaha, Neb., stores -- Mercedes (its first) and Jay Wolfe Ford. It added Chevrolet stores in Midland and Odessa, Texas, and opened a Hummer franchise in Bellevue, Wash..
The dealerships are rated by their gross revenues for 2001.
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