A small dealership group doubled in size with the acquisition of two stores in Iowa.

Alex Tovstanovsky and his mother, Yelena, of Sky Auto Mall have purchased Van Horn Ford and Van Horn Chevrolet in Newhall, Iowa from Van Horn Automotive Group, according to Performance Brokerage Services, which brokered the transaction.

The Tovstanovskys immigrated to the U.S. from Russia in 1994. Tovstanovsky opened Prestige Motor Works, an independent dealership in Naperville, Ill., in 2007, and was named the Illinois Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s State Quality Dealer in 2016.

In 2021, the Tovstanovskys acquired Sky Auto Mall, which consists of Ford and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-RAM dealerships in Center Point, Iowa.

The family’s newest stores have been rebranded as Sky Ford and Sky Chevrolet.

Van Horn Automotive Group was founded in 1966 when Joe Van Horn moved with his wife, Kay, and their six children from Chicago to Plymouth, Wis., and purchased Wagner Chevrolet. The group now includes 17 dealerships in Wisconsin.

The dealerships will remain at their current location at 7300 28th Avenue in Newhall, Iowa.

Real estate investor acquires California dealerships

Performance Brokerage Services also announced the sale of Chico Volkswagen and Chico Mazda in Chico, Calif., from Mark and Amy Abouzeid to Mark Meyer.

While the acquisitions mark Meyer’s entry into the auto retail business, he has worked with dealerships as co-founder of real estate investment firm Apex Equities, focusing on single-tenant net lease properties in the automotive sector.

Mark Abouzeid said he and his wife, Amy, are selling the Chico stores in order to retire after a career in which he rose from mechanic to dealership owner. He began as a dealership mechanic before opening his own business, Automotive Elite, in 1986, specializing in European car repair and Bosch warranty service.

After becoming the first factory-authorized Volkswagen Audi Service Point in the U.S., Abouzeid added used car sales to the business in 2000 and changed the name to Elite Auto Sales. Two years later, that business became the nation’s first VW Service Point the become a Volkswagen dealership. The Abouzeids added Chico Mazda in 2015.

“I began as a technician in my teens and worked tirelessly to open my own shop,” Mark Abouzeid said. “Together, my wife and I built our way up to becoming franchise dealers, eventually acquiring a second franchise. Now … I’m retiring at 62 and finally have the chance to spoil Amy after a lifetime of hard work.”