Buy-Sell Market Heats Up

The buy-sell market remains hot as dealerships acquire and sell dealerships in Montana, Washington, Texas, Massachusetts and Iowa.

In Montana, Campbell Auto Group purchased a store in Missoula from Billion Automotive, reported Kurt Campbell, who co-owns the Campbell Auto Group with his brother Craig.

Campbell Auto renamed the dealership Campbell Kia of Missoula. It's the first Kia dealership for the group, Campbell told Automotive News.

The group also sold one of its two Seattle-area Nissan stores, Campbell Nissan of Everett, to Matt Mead, who renamed the dealership Nissan of Everett.

Campbell Auto also owns a Nissan store, a Volkswagen dealership and a camper-van business in Edmonds.

In Texas, Lee Mehta purchased Energy Country Ford from Larry and Patti King on March 9, according to Frank O'Donnell, managing partner at Biltmore Automotive Service, who represented Mehta in the acquisition.

The purchase is Mehta's fourth franchised dealership and his first Ford store, reported Automotive News. Mehta renamed the Port Arthur dealership Town & Country Ford.  

Mehta’s other stores include Reliance Chevrolet-Buick-GMC and Reliance Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, both in Bay City, Texas, and Reliance Nissan in Alvin, Texas.

In Massachusetts, Tony Urrutia, owner of Team Auto Group, bought a Nissan dealership in Pittsfield on Dec. 1, picking up Haddad Nissan from Haddad Auto Group and renaming it Nissan of Pittsfield. The acquisition increases Team Auto Group to three stores.

Team Auto of Hartford, Conn., also recruited a general manager who moved to Pittsfield and has plans to upgrade the facility.

The auto group also owns Volkswagen of Freehold in New Jersey and Team Mitsubishi Hartford in Connecticut.

In Iowa, TJ and Todd Stalker purchased M&M Motors in Creston from retiring owner Jack Davis, according to a Creston News Advertiser story. The dealership sold both General Motors and Stellantis brands, the media outlet reported.

The Stalkers moved the Buick and GMC lines to their existing dealership, Stalker Chevrolet in Creston, just down the street from M&M Motors. They renamed the store Stalker Chevrolet-Buick-GMC, according to a Facebook post on the dealership's page.

The former M&M Motors, now renamed Stalker Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, retained the Stellantis brand.