Baxter Auto, Martin Management and AutoNation among Q1, Q2 dealership buyers

AutoNation adds Hyundai store in California

AutoNation Inc. on Feb. 1 purchased the former Parkway Hyundai in Santa Clarita, Calif., from Parkway Motorcars Valencia Inc., and relocated the store, according to Parkway CEO Bob Bakshi.

Bakshi told Automotive News that AutoNation moved the Hyundai dealership to one of its facilities in the same Valencia Auto Center auto mall, while Tesla bought Bakshi’s former Hyundai facility. Valencia is a neighborhood within Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles.

AutoNation representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Bakshi said Parkway had owned the Hyundai dealership since 2005 and closed its Genesis point a few years ago. His group still owns an RV store and Buick-GMC-Cadillac dealership in the auto mall, Bakshi said.

AutoNation now has six dealerships in the mall, including the renamed AutoNation Hyundai Valencia, according to its website.

The retail giant on June 5 bought five stores from Bob Baker Auto Group, bolstering its presence in the Carlsbad Car Country auto mall in California, near San Diego.

AutoNation divested three stores last summer, including a July sale of its Jaguar-Land Rover Columbia dealership in South Carolina to Mills Automotive Group. In December, AutoNation acquired four dealerships in Colorado.

AutoNation, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., ranks No. 2 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups, retailing 229,971 new vehicles in 2022.

Spitzer adds two Ohio dealerships

Spitzer Management, doing business as Spitzer Autoworld, added to its Ohio footprint with the purchase of two dealerships in Findlay, Ohio, in the northwest part of the state.

The family-owned group in Elyria, Ohio, on Feb. 16 bought Warner Buick-GMC and Warner Nissan from Larry Warner.

In an interview with Findlay radio station WFIN that aired in March, Warner said he intended to retire after the sale, having turned 79 in January. He said that he bought out the prior owner in 1988.

Spitzer renamed the dealerships Spitzer Buick-GMC and Spitzer Nissan.

Drew Picon, managing director of DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, facilitated the transaction. In June 2022, he handled Spitzer Management’s purchase of a pair of dealerships in northern Pennsylvania.

Picon said the Spitzer organization has been in growth mode the past few years. It has dealerships in Ohio and Pennsylvania.