Group 1 Automotive Inc. sold two Texas dealerships during the first quarter: Mini of El Paso and Cadillac of Arlington.
Frank Kent Motor Co., of Fort Worth, Texas, bought the Cadillac store Jan. 11, said Will Churchill, an owner of the Frank Kent group.
The store has been renamed Frank Kent Cadillac of Arlington. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
Churchill said he agreed to build a new $20 million dealership, and the Cadillac store will be relocated in Arlington. He said construction should begin this summer, with an opening targeted for June 2022.
“We understand Cadillac’s direction and have a lot of faith in the Cadillac brand,” said Churchill, a former Cadillac National Dealer Council chairman.
Frank Kent dates to 1935, and the company has been a Cadillac dealer since 1953. It has a Cadillac store in Fort Worth and a Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac store in Corsicana, Texas. On Jan. 25, the group sold Frank Kent Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Frank Kent Chevrolet in Ennis, Texas, to Gilchrist Automotive.
In mid-January, Garcia Automotive Group of Albuquerque, N.M., purchased Mini of El Paso, Michael Calderon, the store’s manager, told Automotive News.
Garcia Automotive also has a Jaguar-Land Rover store in El Paso and a mix of brands in its portfolio, from Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac to Subaru and Volkswagen.
Group 1 said last week that the Mini and Cadillac stores generated about $40 million in revenues over the past 12 months.
Group 1, of Houston, has a predominance of dealerships in Texas. The company said 40 percent of its first-quarter total new-vehicle sales stemmed from the state.
It ranks No. 4 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 140,221 new vehicles in 2020.
David Muller of Automotive News contributed to this report.
