Hudson Automotive grows in South Carolina
Expanding Hudson Automotive Group bought its third Toyota dealership in 2021 when it acquired Dave Edwards Toyota in Spartanburg, S.C., on Dec. 13.
Hudson Automotive bought the dealership from Dave Edwards, Hudson Automotive CEO David Hudson said in an email. Edwards retired, according to a video message posted on the dealership’s Facebook page.
The store was renamed Spartanburg Toyota.
The Spartanburg acquisition is the latest deal for Hudson Automotive of Charleston, S.C.
This month, the group bought its first Mercedes-Benz dealerships when it acquired Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati and Mercedes-Benz of West Chester, both in Ohio.
In November, Hudson Automotive bought Dick Dyer Toyota in Columbia, S.C. In June, the group acquired Hoover Toyota in Alabama. At the end of August, it sold Murfreesboro Volkswagen in Tennessee to Victory Automotive Group.
Spartanburg Toyota is Hudson Automotive’s 36th rooftop, Hudson said.
The Presidio Group, an investment banking and advisory firm based in Denver and Atlanta, represented Hudson in the transaction.
Bennett Automotive grows
Bennett Automotive Group has expanded its footprint in Lebanon, Penn., with the purchase of three dealerships.
Bennett Automotive, of Allentown, Pa., on Dec. 8 bought Ebersole Auto from the Ebersole family. The group consisted of Ebersole Buick-GMC, Ebersole Honda and Ebersole Hyundai, all in Lebanon. The deal also included a used-only store and a collision center.
It marks Bennett Automotive’s first acquisition since it bought a Toyota store in Lebanon in 2018, said Chris Zerfass, co-owner of the group.
“We’ve been in this market since March of 2018 and really, really did well,” he said. “[We] like the market very much. We built a new Toyota store and moved in last November.”
Lebanon is about 65 miles west of Allentown in central Pennsylvania.
The dealerships were renamed Bennett Buick-GMC of Lebanon, Bennett Honda of Lebanon and Bennett Hyundai of Lebanon. Each brand is new to the group, Zerfass said, adding that each dealership will be renovated to meet manufacturers’ image compliance.
Bennett Automotive, led by owner Rob Bennett, also sells Jaguar, Land Rover, Infiniti and Maserati vehicles.
Ebersole Auto was founded in 1920 and was on its fourth-generation of family ownership, Zerfass noted.
Rob Lee of the Tim Lamb Group represented the Ebersole family in the transaction.
