Dealer.com – Top 150 Dealership Groups - D3

Buy-sells changed market, boosted sales

Jackie Charniga
jcharniga@crain.com

ealer Rob Cochran is bullish about the dealership
business. So bullish, in fact, that Cochran increased
his store count by three in 2018, contributing to #1
Cochran Automotive climbing the most rungs on
Automotive News' annual list of the top 150 dealership groups
based in the U.S.
#1 Cochran, of Monroeville, Pa., vaulted 22 spots up the list,
which ranks dealership groups by new-vehicle retail sales. The
Pittsburgh-area retailer increased new-vehicle sales by 31
percent last year, or nearly 3,300 additional vehicles.
Acquisitions were key; the company purchased two Nissan
stores in April and a Toyota store in July.
"Our footprint in the market that is important to us -
western Pennsylvania - is more mature now than 12 or 18
months ago," Cochran told Automotive News. "I expect there
will be more consolidation in the dealer ranks, but ultimately,
the people who win are the ones that can best take care of the
customers and win loyalty."

An active year
In an active buy-sell year, many retailers moved up or down
the list. Among the top 10, two pairs of retailers swapped
places.
Lithia Motors Inc. unseated Group 1 Automotive Inc. to gain
the No. 3 spot. Lithia retailed 184,601 new vehicles last year, up
10 percent. Sales for Group 1 dipped 1 percent to 170,517 new
vehicles.
Ken Garff Automotive Group and Larry H. Miller Dealerships
also switched, with Larry H. Miller improving to No. 8 and Ken
Garff dropping to No. 9. Larry H. Miller retailed 68,548 new
vehicles in 2018, down a fraction of a percentage point, or 146
vehicles. Ken Garff sold 63,606 new vehicles, down 9 percent.
Otherwise, the top 10 spots on the list remained unchanged
from the year prior. AutoNation Inc. and Penske Automotive
Group Inc. continued as No. 1 and No. 2. Sonic Automotive
Inc., Hendrick Automotive Group, Asbury Automotive Group
Inc. and Staluppi Auto Group retained the same rankings as
the previous year.
The top 10 groups together retailed 1,433,080 new vehicles in
2018, or 8.3 percent of the total U.S. light-vehicle market. That
number also represented about 40 percent of the new vehicles
retailed by the top 150 groups.
Prime Automotive Group, in Westwood, Mass., ended the
year just shy of the top 10, taking the 11th slot. That was an
increase of two places for Prime, which had gained 53 slots in
2017 to get to No. 13.
Some large dealership groups that may have qualified for the
top 150 declined to respond to Automotive News' survey. They

Other big gainers on the list
included Gee Automotive Cos.,
which moved up 18 spots, and
Open Road Auto Group,
Garber Management Group
and Ciocca Dealerships, each
of which moved up 13 slots.

Rapid expansion
Morgan Auto Group of
Tampa, Fla., moved up 11
places to No. 24. Morgan's newvehicle retail sales jumped by
35 percent last year, the highest
percentage increase in sales of
any retailer on the list. Morgan
added eight dealerships in
2018.
In all, Morgan has rapidly
expanded from 12 stores to 37
in five years, CEO Brett Morgan
said. But he doesn't see the
group continuing that rate of
acquisition. And while the
majority of the group's sales
Dealer Rob Cochran, right, celebrates an Audi grand opening event with Scott Keogh, then Audi of
increase may have come from
America president. #1 Cochran climbed the most on the top dealerships list, helped by new stores.
new stores, Morgan credited
partnerships with vendors,
included Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, a perennial top 10
increased attention to metrics, new processes and a higher
placeholder under its former ownership, Van Tuyl Group.
level of accountability for an additional 1,000 new-vehicle sales
Automotive Management Services Inc., of West Palm Beach,
on a same-store level.
Fla., which provides support to the sprawling group of
Desirable economics drove dealership merger-anddealerships owned by Terry Taylor, also did not participate.
acquisition activity in 2018, according to Erin Kerrigan,
Six groups on the 2017 list did not respond for the 2018 list.
managing director of Kerrigan Advisors in Irvine, Calif., which
Two of them - Reagor Dykes Auto Group and Momentum
represents dealers selling their stores. Kerrigan Advisors
Auto Group - had financial and legal troubles erupt in 2018.
counted 216 dealership buy-sell transactions in 2018, up from
Reagor Dykes, of Lubbock, Texas, formerly No. 131 on the list,
202 in 2017 but down from 221 in 2016.
is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after
Twelve dealership groups fell 10 spots or more in the ranking.
being sued by Ford Motor Credit Co., which accused the
Ken Page Auto Group, of Coral Springs, Fla., dropped 30 spots
dealership group of massive floorplan financing fraud.
to No. 66, selling one-third fewer new vehicles. Car Pros
Momentum Auto Group, of Fairfield, Calif., No. 124 on the list
Automotive Group dropped 28 slots to No. 84. Piercey
in 2017, closed all of its stores after court battles began with
Automotive Group fell 19 spots to No. 68.
floorplan lenders. Most stores have been placed under the
The biggest gainer, #1 Cochran Automotive, is unlikely to
direction of a court-appointed receiver, who is looking to sell
repeat its degree of improvement anytime soon, Rob Cochran
the dealerships.
said. He's more focused on internal gains than buying stores.
Ten of the top 150 groups were either new to the list or
"I've never been one to [say] we want to be this big," Cochran
returned after an absence in 2017. The highest-ranking among
said. "I really just want to see us get better. If you're not going to
those 10 were Ourisman Automotive Group, of Marlow
get better, why do it?" a
Heights, Md., at No. 29 and Baxter Auto Group, of Omaha, Neb.,
at No. 33.
Melissa Burden contributed to this report.

Dealer.com – Top 150 Dealership Groups

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