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SEARCHThe sale of two Minnesota franchises ends a rare multigenerational business while adding to one of the Midwest’s biggest auto groups.
The family auto group secured its Volkswagen franchise in 1960.
Volkswagen
One of the oldest auto dealers in the U.S. sold its two franchises, ending a rare four generations of family ownership.
The St. Cloud Minnesota Mazda and Volkswagen dealerships were picked up by Luther Automotive, one of the biggest auto groups in the upper Midwest, from retiring President Linda Eich-Desjardins.
Handled by Performance Brokerage Services for the seller, the transaction preserved the names and locations of the side-by-side Eich Mazda and Eich Volkswagen.
Eich-Desjardins’ son, Matt, worked in the business but decided not to pursue a fifth generation of ownership.
The seller’s great-grandfather, A.A. Eich, started the original enterprise in 1898 in downtown St. Cloud, trading in Studebaker wagons and buggies under the name A.A. Eich & Son.
The store’s earliest automobile models included the wagon-like Studebaker Electric Runabout, followed closely by the first Studebaker-Garford gas car.
A local newspaper reported that the business was the seventh-oldest auto dealership in the U.S., though it didn’t cite a source for the claim.
After decades answering growing demand for automobiles, the family ran out of space to showcase used models and moved the business to its current location in 1957, changing its name to Eich Motor Co. and securing a Mercedes franchise.
It followed up the moves with the Volkswagen franchise in 1960, followed by the franchise to sell more fuel-efficient Mazdas in 1977 as the U.S. grappled with the decade’s energy crises.
Luther Automotive, also a family-owned firm and in business since 1952, plans to operate its two new stores under the original names: Eich Volkswagen and Eich Mazda, Performance Brokerage said.
The group has more than 70 stores across Minnesota, Arkansas, the Dakotas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
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