One week earlier, Group 1 sold Ira Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Volkswagen Saco, both in Saco, Maine, south of Portland, to DSR Motor Group on July 24, Rosenberg confirmed to Automotive News.
The stores were renamed Jack Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Jack Volkswagen of Saco. Jack was the middle name of Rosenberg’s late father, Ira Rosenberg, who started Ira Motor Group near Boston in 1975 and sold it 25 years later to Group 1. He also co-founded Prime Motor Group with David Rosenberg. Ira Rosenberg died in 2019.
Both Saco dealerships were part of Prime Automotive Group when Group 1 acquired the majority of the company in November 2021, Rosenberg said. Rosenberg had been CEO at Prime Automotive until being fired by Prime’s then-majority owner, GPB Capital Holdings, in September 2019. Rosenberg launched DSR Motor Group afterward.
Rich Dempsey is operating partner and has a minority ownership stake in the Volkswagen dealership while Chris Gannett is operating partner and has a minority ownership stake in the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store, Rosenberg said, adding that he worked with both previously.
Rick Bickford, operating partner at DSR Motor’s Tri-City Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Tri-City Subaru in Somersworth, N.H., also is an equity partner in both the Volkswagen and Stellantis stores, Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg said the familiarity with both stores drew him to the acquisition. He said he still owned the real estate where the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership was and the current building is in need of a facility upgrade.
“I was probably the best buyer for the store,” Rosenberg told Automotive News. “And I’m looking to grow the group anyway. I feel a lot of loyalty for the people that I used to work with. It made sense in both cases to buy the stores back.”
The two-store purchase was DSR Motor’s first since it bought a Audi-Volkswagen dealership in Massachusetts in June 2022, Rosenberg confirmed.
Rosenberg said he continues to look for acquisitions.
“I have a lot of people that were loyal to me that deserve to be dealers themselves,” Rosenberg said. “I’d like to help them accomplish that.”
In an Aug. 2 press release, Group 1 said the three divested dealerships generated $85 million in annual revenue.
