November 24, 2014 — Teachers in Texas apparently like the financial prospects of franchised car dealerships. One of the country’s largest pension funds, the Teachers Retirement System of Texas is investing in Capital Automotive, a firm that provides sale-leaseback capital to car dealers, through an investment fund established by Capital’s parent Brookfield Property Partners. Brookfield…
November 23, 2014 — Cox Automotive continues to be active in the acquisition space buying the assets of small used car data firm last week, following its $325 million purchase of Xtime two weeks ago. It.has spent approximately $3 billion on both U.S. and international (China and Brazil) acquisitions since 2010. Meanwhile, the Atlanta-based firm…
November 13, 2014 — Next month, AutoNation will take a big step in making true online transactions in the car buying process a reality when it begins the roll out of its SmartChoice Express initiative. It’s one of its biggest initiatives to date and could move the automotive retail space into the next phase of car…
The automotive retail space is within striking distance of 300 dealership acquisitions for all of 2014 following a monster October that saw 49 rooftops change hands. Meanwhile, prices for deals start to climb in wake of Buffett’s announcement. Fueled by Lithia Motors’ acquisition of the DCH Automotive Group, the 49 rooftops that changed owners in…
November 3, 2014 –The dealership buy-sell market remains hot through for the year with 200 acquisitions through the third quarter. While Warren Buffett’s announcement brought a renewed sense of energy to the market, it ultimately may dampen potential acquisitions for the next couple of quarters as buyers are content to wait out what is proving to…
October 30, 2014 — Sadly, the automotive industry lost one of its shining lights this week when Joe Herman passed away early in the morning on Wednesday October 29. His career spanned more than 40 years, beginning with selling cars at Shrewsbury Volkswagen in New Jersey and ending on the other coast in Vancouver, WA… Continue Reading
October 29, 2014 — Autobytel’s next earnings call with analysts, slated for November 5th, could get interesting. A scathing letter last week from activist investor Ancora Advisors LLC reveals intense dissatisfaction with the current management team and likely will force a sale of Autobytel. The question is, who would buy it? The last month has…
October 29, 2014 — Dealers in the market for a Cadillac franchise may want to tread carefully. A month ago we wrote about what we believe will be a painful forecast for many of Cadillac’s 924 dealers. The brand has a new home in New York and as many as 10 new products coming in…
Whatever bounce the automotive retail stocks received from Berkshire Hathaway’s announcement 12 days ago that it was entering the car sales space disappeared quickly on Monday as several firms watched their shares plummet led by Lithia Motor’s drop of more than 20% — from more than $80 to under $64 in less than a day. Lithia’s…
The Hendrick Automotive Group today closed on the acquisition of Sandy Springs Toyota Scion in Atlanta, GA. Barry, Mike and Brad Jackson ran the 35 year old dealership for the family. It’s Hendrick’s 94th dealership — the group just closed two weeks ago on Ted Linhart’s Dominion Chevrolet Buick GMC in Short Pump,, VA. So far… Continue Reading