That’s a growing stable of auto brands for a third-generation car dealer who a decade ago tried to retire from the industry. Evans — whose grandfather started a car dealership in the Miami, Florida area in 1927 — sold his family’s Florida dealerships in 1998 to AutoNation, then served as a vice president for the company for seven years.
In 2005, Evans left AutoNation. “I was going to get out of the business entirely,” he said. “But in six months, I was bored out of my mind.”
He started exploring opportunities to get back into the business, and acquired his first Dayton-area dealerships in 2007.
Evans hasn’t ruled out acquiring additional auto dealerships in the region. He has looked elsewhere — most recently In Michigan and Kentucky — but decided to focus his expansion efforts closer to his adopted home, which he says he prefers over south Florida.
“Dayton has been a very strong market for us,” Evans said. “I have no hesitation to look at more opportunities here.”
Auto-dealer consolidation has been a trend both locally and nationally, and Tim Doran, president of the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association, says such acquisitions “make good economic sense” and are likely to accelerate.
In recent acquisitions in the Dayton region:
• Peformance Auto Group purchased Walker Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram on Loop Road in Centerville;
• Jeff Schmitt Auto Group acquired Langs Chevrolet in Beavercreek Twp;
• Reichard Buick GMC on Salem Avenue in Dayton acquired the former Boose Chevrolet in Brookville;
• Steve VanGorder, owner of SVG Motors, purchased the former Ron Garrett Chevrolet in Greenville;
• Ed Larkin, owner of Rose Automotive, formerly Rose Chevrolet, in Hamilton, acquired Rodney Cobb Chevrolet Buick GMC in Eaton;
• The father-son duo of Dave and Joe Hidy sold the family’s four Dayton-area car holdings and exited the business late last year. The Honda and Ford holdings went to Columbus-based Germain Motor Co., while Superior Auto Cincinnati purchased Hidy’s Dayton-area Hyundai and Acura dealerships.
The surge in buyout/merger activity mirrors the auto industry as a whole. New-car sales have increased steadily each year since 2009 and are projected to reach 17.3 million this year, signaling a full recovery from the Great Recession.
Evans said the investments into his dealerships reflect his optimism for the industry’s future. Evans Motorworks hosted a grand opening for the makeover to his Vandalia facility, which swapped the Volvo and BMW showrooms and made several improvements, including all-new service bays. The new showrooms have an open-air feel not unlike an Apple store.
“We even have a position of ‘BMW Genius,’ whose sole job is to answer questions, technical and otherwise, about the luxury German import’s models, Evans said. Those who sell cars at Evans’ dealerships are “solutions specialists,” he said, because, “Our job is to find a solution to a customer’s transportation problem.”
Evans said he regards the “dealer for the people” moniker is more than just an marketing slogan, and believes it applies to the least expensive to the most expensive cars sold at his multiple dealerships.
“When we can get someone into a car they can afford, that means they can go out and get a job, they can drop their kids off at school, they can stop at the grocery store on the way home,” Evans said. “It’s more than just moving a piece of metal.”
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