AutoCanada’s transition out of the U.S. market has officially begun.

The Edmonton-based dealership group announced the closing of its sale of Crystal Lake Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Crystal Lake, Ill., to an undisclosed buyer.

AutoCanada said it received approximately $9.9 million (Canadian) in cash — $3.5 million for goodwill and fixed assets and $6.4 million for real estate — which will be used to pay down the balance of its revolving credit facility.

The deal is the next step in AutoCanada’s plan to divest all of its U.S. retail operations, which reached its first major milestone two weeks ago when the company announced it had reached agreements to sell 13 new-car franchises at six Illinois locations for a total of $82.7 million CAD.

The Crystal Lake store is the first of those locations to change hands. The rest of the deals are expected to close before the end of this year.

AutoCanada said Crystal Lake Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram generated sales of $71.3 million CAD and operated at a loss of $3.2 million during the 12 months ending June 30.

The company still owns four dealerships that were not part of the announced sale agreements and is actively working to divest those businesses.

After years of struggling to operate the dealerships profitably in the U.S., executive chairman Paul Antony first hinted at selling them last August as AutoCanada began a “transformation plan” in the wake of financial losses.

During its fourth quarter 2024 earnings call in March, Antony announced the stores had been classified as a “discontinued operation” and the company was seeking buyers for them. During that call, Antony said the American locations operated at a loss of $24.2 million in adjusted EBITDA during 2024.

“I don’t really think we have a view on what normalized results are in the U.S.,” he said at the time. “We’ve tried time and time again to rebuild that business, and it just seems like we probably don’t have the right talent in there.

“Under somebody else’s leadership, that might change. We think there are a lot of people who have a better capability to run that business. … We’ve made a decision to move on from the U.S. market.”