Earl Hesterberg provided a blunt response to an analyst’s question on vehicle inventory during the Group 1 Automotive fourth quarter 2021 earnings conference call that took place on Feb. 10.
Hesterberg is Group 1 president and chief executive officer, and the analyst asked when Hesterberg thought the inventory shortages that have plagued the industry might return to normal.
“I have not been able to predict on this subject with any accuracy at all,” Hesterberg said. “I continue to be shocked.”
Every month, he added, seems to …
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“Very tough to predict.”
That was the response from Asbury Automotive Group president and chief executive officer David Hult to an analyst’s questions regarding when vehicle inventories would return to normal. The analyst went on to ask, would inventories return to somewhere between where they are now and where they used to be, or would they return all the way back to where they used to be?
But although Hult hesitated to make a prediction on …
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Sonic Automotive’s immediate focus is to expand and enhance its EchoPark standalone, used-car operation and to integrate its recent acquisition, RFJ Auto Partners and its subsidiaries, into its business, said Sonic chief executive officer David Smith.
“We’re going to be disciplined on further acquisitions, but that’s not to say if a deal comes together we wouldn’t look at it,” said Smith, who made his comments during the company’s Feb. 16, conference call detailing its earnings for its fourth quarter and entire year that ended Dec. 31.
Sonic acquired RFJ Auto in December.
Headquartered in Plano, Texas, RFJ Auto had 33 locations in seven states, a portfolio of 16 automotive brands. The group is expected to …
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Penske Automotive’s growth trajectory remains on track, though the company has had to change how it finds new employees and used vehicles, said chief executive officer Roger Penske during the company’s Feb. 9 earnings conference call detailing the company’s financial results for the quarter and year ending Dec. 31.
“We had a terrific year,” Penske said. “I look forward to the future and I remain confident about the opportunities I see across our diversified enterprise.”
Penske Automotive is a diversified international transportation services company and operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships principally in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan. It operated 304 franchise dealerships worldwide at the end of 2021.
Penske said he expects the company to …
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Buoyed by robust sales at its AutoNation USA used vehicle stores, its parts and service business, and its consumer finance services unit, AutoNation reported record financial results for its fourth quarter and entire year ending Dec. 31.
AutoNation is also “aggressively looking” at adding a captive finance company, said chief executive officer Mike Manley during the company’s Feb. 17 earnings conference call.
AutoNation operates 10 AutoNation USA used vehicle stores and plans to add 12 more over the next 12 months, Manley said. The company’s previously announced aim to operate over 130 AutoNation USA stores by the end of 2026, remains on track, he added.
Considering the company’s plans and aspirations, especially as it relates to enlarging its AutoNation USA footprint, it is …
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AutoNation named two new chief operating officers on Thursday: one for its used-car standalone store, auto auction and collision center businesses; and another for its franchise business.
COO and president Jim Bender was set to leave the company Friday, as previously announced.
Appointed as COO of the non-franchised business is Dave Koehler, currently the Eastern Region president. In this role, Koehler will head up the AutoNation USA used-car store program, AutoNation Auto Auctions and the AutoNation Collisions business.
Meanwhile, the COO for the franchised business will be Steve Kwak, currently the Western Region president. Kwak will head up new-car franchise dealership operations, OEM relations, customer financial services and after-sales operations.
Each of the COOs will report to chief executive officer Mike Manley. AutoNation plans to announce their regional replacements soon.
“Steve and Dave have nearly 60 years of combined automotive experience and both have been with AutoNation for over ten years. They are exceptional leaders whose expertise will continue to support the trajectory and the strategy of AutoNation,” Manley said in a news release.
“With the significant investment, growth plans, and success of AutoNation USA coupled with our opportunity to develop our collision and auction business it is now time to ensure these operating units have the highest level of leadership and focus,” he said.
Regarding Bender, Manley added: “We would like to thank Jim for the leadership and significant contribution he brought to AutoNation for the past 22 years.”
We begin this dealer group M&A roundup in the Southwest, where Phoenix-based Earnhardt Auto Centers has sold two Las Vegas stores — Earnhardt Buick GMC and Earnhardt Mazda — to Jerry Seiner Dealerships, a group based in Utah.
This was announced Thursday by Kerrigan Advisors, which represented the Earnhardt group in the transaction.
“The sale of these stores was not an easy decision for our family, but it was the right one as we increase our focus on our highly successful core group of stores in Arizona. Once again, Kerrigan Advisors not only identified an excellent new owner for the stores, but they also ensured a smooth, harmonious transaction,” said Dodge Earnhardt, who is president of Earnhardt Auto Centers, in a news release.
“We are very grateful to the Kerrigan Advisors team, especially Erin Kerrigan and Marie Brashears, for their hard work to ensure this sale was a success,” Earnhardt said.
Erin Kerrigan, the founder and managing director of the advisory firm, added: “It was an honor to represent the Earnhardt family and work with their executive team again.
“We were pleased to identify the right buyer for the Earnhardt’s valuable Las Vegas dealerships,” she said. “The Jerry Seiner executive team, and owner Chris Hemmersmeier, recognized the value of entering the Las Vegas market with these franchises, and the opportunity the city’s tremendous economic expansion offers for continued sales growth.”
Moving eastward to the St. Louis area, Asbury Automotive Group has sold its store known formerly as Plaza Lexus in Creve Coeur, Mo., to the Gurley Leep Automotive Family.
That deal, announced Monday, was completed last month. The store is now known as Spirit Lexus.
“We are excited to add our second Lexus franchise to the Gurley Leep Family. We plan on bringing our family values of world class service and community philanthropy to greater St. Louis,” said Mike Leep, Jr., who is president of the Gurley Leep Automotive Family.
The store was part of the Plaza Motors group that Asbury has owned and operated since 1998. Its dealerships in the area include Plaza Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW and Infiniti.
“St. Louis is an important market for Asbury and we have a strong connection to the community,” Asbury president and chief executive officer David Hult said in the release. “Ware excited to continue serving our guests at the Plaza dealerships in the city of Creve Coeur.”
AutoNation has named a new executive who will be chief operating officer for its Precision Parts business and executive vice president and head of mobility, business strategy and development.
Appointed to the role effective March 1 is Gianluca Camplone, who was most recently was an executive at McKinsey & Company.
Camplone, who joins the retailer’s executive committee, will head up AutoNation’s business strategy, corporate development and Precision Parts teams, while reporting directly to chief executive officer Mike Manley.
“We are excited to have Gianluca join the AutoNation team. Gianluca is a 25-year progressive high-impact leader,” Manley said in a news release.
“With his broad and extensive experience in mobility, business strategy and development, and mergers and acquisitions, Gianluca will be a great addition to the executive team, as we continue our focus on growth and the expansion of the AutoNation brand,” he said.
Camplone added: “I am very excited to be joining AutoNation at this time – there is no doubt the next few years will be transformative for the industry and its major players. I believe this will offer significant opportunities for AutoNation and I am delighted to join the leadership team to help shape and drive the future.”
Elsewhere among the public dealer groups, Asbury Automotive Group has named Hilliard Terry III to its board of directors.
The move was effective Tuesday.
Terry will be on Asbury’s compensation and human resources committee, as well as its capital allocation & risk management committee
Asbury now has 10 directors. Nine of those are independent.
Terry’s career includes time as executive vice president and chief financial at Textainer Group Holdings Limited, vice president and treasurer at Agilent Technologies, Inc., as well as roles with Goldman Sachs, Kenetech Corp., and more.
“We are pleased to add someone with Hilliard’s investor-facing and finance leadership experience to the Asbury board,” board chairman Tom Reddin said in a news release. “His informed perspective on digital transformation in consumer-facing environments make him a valuable new addition to our board, and will enhance the overall composition of the board.”
Asbury CEO David Hult said: “With Hilliard’s appointment to the board, we believe Asbury is in a stronger position to execute on our strategic growth and omni channel initiatives. His added experience in technology, finance, and banking will be an asset to us as we continue to strive to provide a best-in-class guest experience and work to bring innovations to the automotive retail industry.”
Terry added: “I look forward to joining Asbury’s board. Asbury’s growth and performance have been phenomenal. Its innovative culture and omni-channel approach create exciting future prospects for the company.”
EchoPark Automotive has its first-ever chief operating officer.
Parent company Sonic Automotive said Thursday that it has promoted Tim Keen to the position, where he will focus solely on expanding the line of used-car stores nationally.
Keen was most recently executive vice president of operations for both Sonic and EchoPark, a role he had held since 2018.
He has been with Sonic for 15 years, including time as divisional vice president of EchoPark. In that post, Keen helped both build the EchoPark model and launch its first locations in Denver.
In his most recent post as EVP of operations, Keen oversaw Sonic’s franchised and EchoPark dealerships. Now, he will focus squarely on EchoPark's national expansion.
He will report to Sonic president Jeff Dyke, who said in a news release: “I have tremendous respect for and trust in Tim, having worked with him for the past 30 years. We have big plans for EchoPark Automotive, and focusing Tim’s operational expertise, tenacity, and commitment to teammate development solely on the growth of EchoPark will help us achieve our goals as we continue to invest in the long-term success of the nationwide pre-owned vehicle segment.”
David Smith, who is the chief executive of Sonic and EchoPark, said in the release: “We are thrilled to promote Tim to COO of EchoPark Automotive. Tim’s dedication to EchoPark since inception, combined with his track record of operational success, make him the perfect fit to lead the team and drive our expansion plans in 2022 and beyond.”
Keen added: “It’s been an honor to work with our franchised dealerships over the past three years and collaborate with our manufacturing partners. I’m excited to jump back into EchoPark full time and work alongside our dedicated teammates as we continue to introduce our exceptional experience to new guests nationwide.”
Monday’s dealer roundup includes the growth of a 3-year-old California group along with the latest charity efforts of an Atlanta-area group in business since the early 1970s.
Beginning first in the Golden State, Hello Auto Group announced it has opened a new Mazda dealership in San Diego’s Kearny Mesa community. The dealership and service center are the first Hello Auto location in the market.
“Hello Auto Group is excited to be expanding in southern California,” Hello Auto president Karl Schmidt said in a news release. “We are thrilled to be bringing San Diego the first Hello Auto dealership.”
This is the third Mazda dealership for Hello Auto Group. The group will be operating the new Mazda store out of the existing brick and mortar dealership and nearby service center.
Hello Auto said it will be breaking ground for a new, state-of-the art building on the property in the spring.
Hello Auto Group launched its group in 2019. It currently operates five dealerships in California, including:
— Kia of Valencia
— Mazda of Valencia
— Subaru of Temecula
— Mazda of Temecula
— Mazda of San Diego
A sixth store will be joining the Hello Auto Group family in the spring with a new Subaru dealership in Valencia.
“We’re overjoyed to be able to build our small, community-based dealership group from the ground up — supported by our core values of being genuine, honest, respectful and fair,” Hello Auto general manager Idaliz Maldonado said in the news release. “We’ve built our business around an information-rich, shopper-driven approach that puts customers in the driver’s seat.
“When you visit, we want to make you feel like you’re at home. We love the communities we serve,” Maldonado continued. “Our welcoming approach truly appears to resonate — not only amongst our customers, but also our employees who are the lifeblood of our organization. We’ve quickly found that regardless of the community, good people centered around a common goal make all the difference. That’s what I love about this organization.”
Jim Ellis' effort to reduce poverty
Meanwhile in Atlanta, the Jim Ellis Automotive Group on Monday announced a donation of $68,850 to the Atlanta Children’s Shelter (ACS) that was recently raised during the group’s annual Holiday Giving Campaign.
According to a news release, all 20 Jim Ellis family-owned and operated dealerships participated in the special fundraising sales event with the end goal of positively impacting the lives of homeless children and their families in Atlanta and surrounding areas.
Customers who shopped at any Jim Ellis dealership between Nov. 26 and Dec. 31 enjoyed the additional benefit of a cause-based vehicle purchase that would, in turn, support the local community.
“It gives us great pleasure to make this donation to a very special organization like the Atlanta Children’s Shelter,” Jim Ellis Automotive Group vice president Stacey Ellis Hodges said. “All children need comfort, safety, love and reassurance and I am so happy that we can play a part in ensuring that these children receive what they deserve.”
Jim Ellis Automotive Group has been serving the Atlanta area since 1971, starting with Volkswagen as the flagship brand. The group has expanded to 17 brands and 20 dealerships covering Atlanta, Buford, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs, South Fulton and Marietta.
Atlanta Children’s Shelter is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that provides free quality daycare, emotional support, an educational curriculum for homeless children and focused social services for their families.
“We are deeply humbled by the outpouring of support from the Jim Ellis Holiday Giving Campaign,” said Sandra Holiday, executive director of Atlanta Children’s Shelter. “With over $68,000 donated to our mission, a real impact was made on the well-being of Atlanta’s homeless families.
“This donation provides five homeless children with scholarships for one year in our licensed early childhood education program, it nourishes 15 homeless children in our classrooms for an entire school year with daily healthy meals and snacks, and it supports 20 homeless families transitioning them into housing with free childcare and emergency assistance for rent and utilities, keeping them stable for one year,” Holiday went on to say.
