Canadian auto retailer Knight Automotive Group bought a Stellantis dealership in Claremont, Calif., on June 15 from John Elway Dealership Group, sibling publication Automotive Information reported Tuesday.
It marks Knight Automotive’s third U.S. retailer, all in California.
The previous John Elway’s Claremont Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram was renamed Knight Claremont Chrysler Dodge-Jeep-Ram. Claremont is east of Los Angeles.
Knight Automotive bought Dawn Ford Fontana and Dawn Ford North Hollywood, each in Southern California, in December.
Western Canada’s Knight Automotive, headed by Kevin Knight, has areas in Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Braeden Mueller, vp of Knight Automotive, stated the Claremont dealership’s location made it a good selection for Knight Automotive.
“We’ve lots of Stellantis shops in Canada, we’re very accustomed to the model,” Mueller instructed Automotive Information. “Then, logistically it made lots of sense. It is proper off I-10 and in between our two Ford shops.”
The 65,000-square-foot dealership opened in 2017, in line with Efficiency Brokerage Providers, a buy-sell agency in Irvine, Calif., that represented Knight Automotive within the transaction. Jason Stopnitzky, co-founder of the agency, was the dealer.
“It is a brand-new facility from the earlier possession group. Nevertheless it’s all been renovated over two years,” Mueller stated. “We have additionally retained everybody that needed to remain throughout the group.”
Mueller stated Knight Automotive will proceed to look to increase in California.
Elway, a former NFL star and longtime Denver Broncos quarterback, owns a number of dealerships with companions. Elway received into auto retailing years in the past, promoting quite a few shops in 1997 to Republic Industries Inc., which later grew to become AutoNation Inc.
John Elway Dealership Group of Englewood, Colo., ranks No. 102 on Automotive Information‘ record of the highest 150 dealership teams in the USA, retailing 10,120 new autos in 2021.