Rising Lithia Motors Inc., which has indicated it’s focusing on additional Midwest enlargement, did simply that with its latest acquisition of 5 dealerships from Wilde Automotive Group in Wisconsin.
Lithia on Sept. 12 acquired Wilde East Towne Honda in Madison, Wilde Toyota in West Allis and Wilde Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, Wilde Subaru and Wilde Honda, all in Waukesha. Lithia stated final week that the acquisition is predicted so as to add $625 million in annual income.
Lithia has had a presence in Iowa since 2006, the auto retailer confirmed, with 9 shops. In 2021, Lithia barreled into Michigan when it acquired the Suburban Assortment and 34 dealerships, principally within the Detroit space.
A lot of the Midwest is a part of Lithia’s North Central Area 3, which incorporates North Dakota, the place Lithia has two dealerships.
“Though we’re in Detroit, we’re actually not into the opposite main inhabitants areas like St. Louis and Minneapolis,” Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer informed Automotive Information final yr. “We’ll most likely proceed to search for companions in these areas.”
4 of the 5 Wilde dealerships are in suburban Milwaukee, whereas the fifth retailer is in Madison, Wisconsin’s capital.
The acquisition marks the auto retail big’s return to Wisconsin. Lithia briefly owned a Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge retailer in La Crosse from 2006 till 2008, in accordance with its annual experiences.
Lithia in July stated it had acquired dealerships this yr that have been anticipated to generate $2.3 billion in annual revenues.
“The pipeline of alternatives to proceed community enlargement stays strong,” Lithia stated in a information launch final week.
It wasn’t clear if the Wisconsin shops have been Wilde Automotive’s final dealerships. In August, the affiliated Wilde Automotive Household offered its three Florida dealerships to Morgan Automotive Group.
Wilde Automotive, of Waukesha, ranks No. 79 on Automotive Information‘ record of the highest 150 dealership teams primarily based within the U.S., retailing 12,953 new autos in 2021.
The Wilde Automotive acquisition was Lithia’s first because it purchased a California Ford retailer in July, the corporate confirmed.
Lithia additionally was awarded a Ford open level and opened Ford of Downtown LA in Los Angeles in April.
Whereas Lithia is acquisitive, final week it stated it additionally expects to finish dealership divestitures totaling $625 million in annual income in 2022. Lithia has already offered a number of shops this yr and final week confirmed two separate September dealership gross sales.
On Sept. 14, the auto retail big offered Lithia Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-Fiat of Eureka to Harper Motors, a Lithia consultant confirmed.
The next day, Lithia offered DCH Gardena Honda in California to David Wilson Automotive Group, one of many largest privately held dealership teams within the nation. Lithia acquired the Honda dealership when it purchased DCH Auto Group Inc. in 2014.
David Wilson Automotive, of Orange, Calif., ranks No. 10 on Automotive Information‘ record of the highest 150 dealership teams, retailing 50,425 new autos in 2021.
Lithia of Medford, Ore., ranked No. 2 on that record.
Lithia additionally offered a Chevrolet dealership in Idaho earlier this yr, the corporate confirmed to Automotive Information.
Lithia offered Chevrolet of Twin Falls on Feb. 7 to Rydell Co., in accordance with Greg Krueger, companion at Sterling Mergers and Acquisitions in Boise, Idaho. Krueger’s agency represented Lithia in that sale.